Public sex and drug use reported near Rotherham hotel, licensing hearing told
Plans to reopen the pub and restaurant at a Rotherham hotel prompted claims of public sexual activity, open drug use and residents feeling unsafe during a licensing hearing.
Hotels and Resorts Ltd is seeking permission to sell alcohol and provide live and recorded music until midnight at Carlton Park Hotel on Moorgate Road.
The application went before Rotherham Council's licensing sub-committee on Tuesday, September 15 after objections from the council's licensing authority, ward councillor Taiba Yasseen and dozens of residents.
During the hearing, Coun Yasseen said residents had previously reported street drinking, people openly injecting drugs, intimidation, shouting, public urination and sexual activity in public around the hotel.
She stressed her objection was “not an attack on vulnerable people”, but said problems had arisen when highly vulnerable people were concentrated in one place with little support under what she described as a “badly managed contract”.
Carlton Park Hotel had previously been used by the council to provide temporary accommodation for homeless people.
Coun Yasseen said women who regularly walked or jogged around the Boston Castle area had begun to feel particularly vulnerable, while some residents had written lengthy accounts of how problems were affecting their families.
Muhammad Fawad Mansoor, on behalf of the operator, told the hearing he had since stopped accepting council bookings for single homeless people, although the hotel continues to accommodate some homeless families.
He said his ambition was to restore Carlton Park to the hotel it had previously been, with the pub, restaurant and leisure centre operating alongside the accommodation.
“We can deny council bookings once we have enough business. Right now, we do not have enough business,” he said.
“Otherwise, I have to shut this building. Is it better the building be operational or is it better to be an abandoned building just like it was before?”
He said rebuilding the business would take time and offered to hold monthly meetings with residents to discuss concerns and improvements.
“We want to make this hotel like it was before,” he said. “We need time to improve, do things better.”
The revised licence application would allow alcohol to be sold for consumption on and off the premises between 10am and midnight every day, with indoor live and recorded music during the same hours.
The company originally sought longer hours, including extensions which could have allowed some events to continue until 4am, but substantially scaled back its application following objections.
The operator has also offered conditions covering CCTV, drugs, Challenge 25 checks, staff training, security and customer dispersal.
Residents told the hearing they wanted Carlton Park to succeed as a hotel but remained concerned about problems they associated with its previous use as temporary accommodation.
One resident, Mr Moss, described groups drinking around one of the hotel's entrances, while Mr Kay called for restrictions preventing another council contract for single homeless people.
The licensing sub-committee can grant the application, impose further conditions or refuse all or part of it.
Councillors reserved their decision following the hearing, with the outcome expected to be issued within five working days.