Police object to plans for new nightclub in Scarborough

Frazer Jones of Decades Bar Ltd applied to Scarborough Council earlier this year for a premises licence to run the club out of 9 Aberdeen Walk, which was previously home to the Mansion nightclub.

North Yorkshire Police has now said it is not happy with the plans and the council will be called on to make a decision on whether the club will be allowed to open.

Mr Jones, who operates his Decades brand out of a club in Tamworth told the Local Democracy Reporting Service earlier this year that he had been looking for a seaside town to expand into and was put onto Scarborough by a friend from the area.

Under the plans, Decades Nightclub would be open until 4.15am Monday to Wednesday and then half an hour later on Thursday to Sundays.

Music will be played until 4am Monday to Wednesday and then until 4.30am at the rest of the week, with alcohol served at the same times, though Mr Jones said the club would be looking to open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the outset.

If granted permission, it would bring a nightclub back into Scarborough town centre, though Mr Jones himself admitted that he anticipated the police not being on board with his idea as the building is located in the town’s Cumulative Impact Zone, which makes it harder for new licences premises to open.

Scarborough Council’s licensing sub-committee will now meet remotely on Tuesday April 14 to decide on whether to grant the licence.

In a report prepared for the councillors it states that the police had a number of concerns.

It states: “[There are] concerns regarding the late-night trading hours as customers may leave the venue at 5.45am [and] issues surrounding the Cumulative Impact Zone (CIP) in relation to the number and density of licensed premises in this location.”

The report adds that the police also have concerns “regarding management’s ability to demonstrate an understanding of the problems that exist and the measures they will employ to mitigate any impact.”

The committee will have to decide whether to grant, refuse or to grant with different hours or conditions Mr Jones’ application.

The property was used as a club originally when Mansion opened its doors in 1966 as Scene One, making it one of the first modern discotheques in the UK.

Two years later Scene Two opened in the floor above and hosted gigs from acts including Status Quo, the Drifters, Mungo Jerry, the Troggs and Acker Bilk.

Mansion, along with Boleyns and Vivaz, all closed their doors in the 2000s as Scarborough’s nightclub scene was reduced to almost nothing, with just Bacchus in Ramshill still going strong.

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