The Licensing Act 2003 and licence applications

Licensing policy and objectives.

Comment on a licence application

There is a 28-day consultation period for:

  • new licence applications
  • applications to change (vary) an existing licence

You must send your comments by the last day of the consultation period. Comments are also called representations.

You can comment on a:

  • new licence
  • variation to an existing licence
  • review of an existing licence

Go to current licence applications and reviews

Who can comment

Anyone can make a representation (objection) against a licence application, but it must include your name and contact details — anonymous objections are not accepted.

We must be satisfied that your objection is genuine and made for a legitimate reason. We also need to be able to contact you in case you need to respond to anything related to your representation.

If you're worried about intimidation, you can:

  • ask the police for advice
  • ask a responsible authority to make a representation on your behalf

Your objection must relate to at least one of the 4 licensing objectives.

We can only consider representations or requests that are not 'vexatious' or 'frivolous'.