Find out about licensing applications

Restaurants and pubs need licences, so does anywhere that puts on public events – Kenwood is a good example. Licensing is separate from planning and, unlike planning applications, licensing applications are not notified to neighbours. They are just advertised by a notice on the premises and in a local newspaper. That can mean that neighbours don’t know about licensing applications until it is too late to object, which has happened recently in relation to some local applications.

In July 2022 the Highgate Society, supported by the Highgate Neighbourhood Forum and the Heath & Hampstead Society, made a deputation to the Camden Licensing Committee asking them to change their rules so that applications for licences are notified to neighbours. They didn’t agree to that but did agree to make their website more user-friendly. They also provided a link where any resident or business can apply to be notified of an application for a licence, or a change to a licence, near them. At the moment you have to be a Camden resident to be able to do this, but we have asked that it should be available to people who live near Camden too. The link is at https://forms.camden.gov.uk/cus/servlet/ep.sub?auth=0&group=303466&type=P&new=yes