Seaford's Salts Cafe withdraws licencing bid for alcohol sales due to lack of support from town council landlords

On Monday (March 20), a Lewes District Council licensing panel had been due to consider an application seeking a premises licence for the Salts Cafe, which sits within the Salts Recreation Ground in Seaford.

The licence had been sought by Papachinos — a business owned by Lewes district councillor Nicola Papanicalou — and, if approved in full, would have allowed the cafe to serve alcohol at any time between 9am and midnight, seven days a week.

On the morning of the hearing, however, Lewes District Council confirmed the application had been withdrawn.

The withdrawal followed on from a meeting of Seaford Town Council last Thursday (March 16), which saw councillors decline to alter the terms of how the council-owned land is allowed to be used.

In other words, the town council, acting as the cafe’s landlord, declined to give its permission for alcohol to be sold on site, meaning a premises licence could not have been used even if it were granted by the district council.

In coming to this decision, town councillors had expressed concerns about alcohol sales changing the character of the ‘family-friendly’ area.

Cllr Papanicolaou had sought to alleviate these concerns during the town council meeting, arguing that the change would not drastically affect the nature of the business or area.

She said: “I want to make it clear to anyone with concerns that under no circumstances do we want to upgrade to some pub, bar, nightclub, rave or late night music venue, this is simply not how we run our businesses.

“We just want to provide a little more choice for customers and also to provide enhanced facilities for the local community. We do not want our staff working late evenings and our general opening hours will remain the same.”

Cllr Papanicolaou noted the presence of two other licenced premises — the rugby and cricket club houses — already within the Salts Recreation Grounds, as evidence the proposal would not change the character of the area.

Ultimately, however, these arguments failed to sway town councillors who declined to allow any alcohol sales from the site, even if only on a trial basis.