New hours: Circles in Milford Haven

AN APPLICATION from the owner of Circles nightclub, also known as The Basement, to extend the opening hours to 9.30am has been approved. 

The application was heard by the Council’s Licensing Sub Committee, which met on Friday (Jul 1).

It means that the nightclub, located on Victoria Road, Milford Haven, can now open from 6pm until 2.30am on Monday and Tuesday, until 6.30am on Wednesday and Thursday, until 8.30am on Friday, from 1pm to 8.30am on Saturday, and between 1pm and 6.30am on Sunday.

As well as that, the club will also be allowed to open to 9.30am for Bank Holiday Sundays and New Years Eve.

There had been concerns from residents in the area that problems such as noise disturbance and disorder would worsen if the new hours were approved.

One resident who wrote to the council stated: “When I am going out on Saturday and Sunday mornings, the amount of drunk people that are in the road is ridiculous. Not only is it a danger to drivers, I have had to stop the car before now to avoid a drunk woman actually sitting in the middle of the road.

“I have also been flagged down and had a lift home demanded of me as there are no taxis available at this time.”

However, the committee felt that such problems would not arise and decided to grant the application.

It was also highlighted that there had been no responses from the police or from the Council’s pollution control team in respect of the application.

Nightclub owner, Mr Mark Thomas, said: “It has been a nightclub for the last 20 years but times have changed.

“People’s habits have changed and, in the business, we’ve got to move with the times. At the moment we are open until 5am, but we’re in a position where the trade warrants going over that time and unfortunately we don’t tend to get people in until half past two.

“We have had another premises open in the town as competition to ourselves and this does change the amount of people we see.

“It’s a well-attended premises on a Saturday evening. On Friday evening we see 50-100 people, on Saturday we would see probably 150- 200 and we want to be in a position when people do attend that we are able to benefit from their attendance for a little longer.

“On many occasions the additional hours may not be used. However, on occasions when we have got sufficient business, there then we would like to make the most of it.”

Eric Harries, Milford Haven Town Councillor, also attended the meeting to give the Town Council’s support to the application.

Councillor John Davies asked if the extended hours would worsen the quality of life experienced by residents in the area. Mr Thomas said that there were limiters in the property to control the noise levels and that there are doormen on the front of the premises who make sure patrons leave the premises in a quiet and orderly manner.

Mr Thomas added that there had not been any complaints regarding noise or disorder from the public or police when the nightclub had been open late in the past due to Temporary Event Notices (TENS).

He concluded that if problems did arise from the new hours, he would be happy to enter discussions about resolving the issue and if the problems persist, he would revert the club back to its previous hours.

After half an hour discussing whether to allow the application, the committee returned to deliver its verdict, stating that the application was granted and that doormen should remain present for a minimum of 30 minutes after closure to dispel noise or disorder.