JDW's late licence bid thrown out
by MA Reporter A bid by JD Wetherspoon to win back a late licence for the West Kirk pub in Ayr, Scotland, has been thrown out by licensing chiefs who branded the company "incompetent". The West Kirk lost its late hours and Sunday afternoon hours last October when the South Ayrshire Licensing Board heard it was running happy hours lasting the whole weekend. The pub lodged an application at last week's quarterly meeting of the board to reinstate slightly shorter hours at the pub. But licensing chiefs ruled it "incompetent", and decided not to listen to the pub's case. The company wanted a 12.15am finish (Monday to Saturday) and an 11.45pm closure on Sunday. This compares to the 12.30am (Monday to Saturday) and 12midnight (Sunday) finish the pub enjoyed until October when it was cut back to 11pm. At that time, the board made it clear that Wetherspoon's could not re-apply for a year. But a lawyer for the firm attempted to argue that there was a precedent, when an Ayr nightclub had its hours restored. However, board chairman councillor Douglas Campbell was adamant: "That was a different board, and before we had a code of practice." Cllr Campbell said the West Kirk's application was "not so different" to the one refused in October. The board unanimously agreed with him, and said it wouldn't listen to the pub's case. JDW had also admitted "up-selling" which encourages customers to buy bigger measures at discounted prices. Wetherspoons argued "up-selling" was "perfectly reasonable discounting" and couldn't be compared to wilder promotions. However, the board said that the West Kirk management were "dismissive" of a code of practice aimed at discouraging binge drinking and raising licensing standards in South Ayrshire. Grave times for JDW projects JD Wetherspoon has hit archeological complications at two sites it is developing. New pub developments in Spalding and Exeter JDW chairman Tim Martin's home town are entangled in development complications. In Exeter the company wants to convert a former chapel into a £1.5m pub but needs to exhume human remains, and relocate tombstones, monuments and other memorials. Relatives of the deceased can contact the company to object to the exhumation plan or arrange for the remains to be reburied or cremated. Local historian Hazel Harvey said: "There used to be a restaurant behind the building and people would dine at tables with ivy creepers overhead and tombstones against the wall. It is showing more respect to remove the graves." In Spalding, Lincolnshire, preparations to build a two-storey site have been halted after the foundations of a 16th-century house were found. A six-week emergency excavation is currently under way, delaying the opening of the pub until the end of July this year. The second phase of the building work is due to start this month.
