Lewes dance music night at Phoenix Estate given the go-ahead

At a hearing on Tuesday (June 6), a Lewes District Council licensing panel decided not to prevent Frolic! — a Lewes-based group known for organising DJ-led music nights — from holding an event at the Phoenix Estate on Saturday, June 17.

By their own admission, the group’s initial application for a Temporary Events Notice (TEN) had been relatively sparse on details. It had only put forward the group’s plans to hold a “charitable dance event” at Unit 14 in Phoenix Place, with alcohol, entertainment and late night refreshments between 8pm and 3am.

This lack of details had sparked concerns from Sussex Police, who argued the event could pose “an unacceptable risk to public safety” without proper conditions being put in place.

However, it was heard that Frolic! had shared more information with police ahead of the hearing, including its plans for security, site safety, ticket sales and how many people were expected to attend (up to 150). It was also heard that the event was set to close down at 2am, rather than the 3am cut off.

Councillors also heard about the history of Frolic!, with event organiser Alan Read telling the panel how the group had initially been formed by parents of Walland Community Primary School pupils as a fundraising effort in 2011.

Mr Read pointed to the group’s track record of safe and non-disruptive events both in Lewes and Brighton and said the events generally attracted an older crowd than other DJ nights. This, he said, was a deliberate move by the group.

Mr Read said: “The promotion of the event is not public. One of the things that makes our nights special is that they are generally done through word of mouth. The experience is like a house party, where it’s not your house and you haven’t got neighbours.

“So we promote quite carefully, to make sure we have some idea of who the crowd is. That is very important. We do have professional security, but we also have a respectful following and people who are generally well-behaved.

“We have never had any incidents, any major incidents of misbehaviour. We have never had to call in any support from police or anything else and that is partly due to the way we target and promote them.”

The further information provided by Frolic! seemed to assuage many of the police concerns. However, Sussex Police maintained an objection due to concerns about the venue itself.

PC Alastair Batchelor, from the Sussex Police Licensing Team, told councillors that he was concerned about the lack of details provided about the building’s safety.

He said Sussex Police had not seen any fire evacuation plans, nor any indication that the venue’s maximum safe capacity had been correctly established. It is understood that a fire safety inspection of the venue is due to take place next week, however.

PC Batchelor said Sussex Police also had concerns about the structural safety of the building, saying officers had not been able to secure suitable documentation from its owner — the real estate developer Human Nature.

PC Batchelor said: “It is always a difficult one with the licensing team because it can come across like we don’t want events to be held. It’s quite the opposite.

“I think on any other occasion, with Alan and Simon’s event, we would have no objection. The venue is our major concern … there are so many safety concerns and I think Alan has covered that as well.

“It is the fire safety, it’s the building, it’s how the venue is managed. The owners of that building haven’t got, or don’t appear to have, everything in place to be able to rent that building out just yet.

“Once that is all in place, I can’t see an issue, but right now as we speak it is not fit for purpose for holding events for that many people.”

In a statement issued in response to queries, Human Nature spokesperson Clarissa Bromelle said: “As custodians of the site, we want to make sure we’re putting some of these unused spaces to good use while we wait for an outcome to the Phoenix planning application.

“This includes an upcoming club event, which will raise funds for Lewes food banks, following on from the £7,500 we raised just before Christmas at a supper club and auction, and other community events such talks and workshops to add to Lewes’s rich cultural calendar.

“Unit 14 is tucked away down Phoenix Place so we don’t anticipate noise disturbance to residents from the occasional late-night events, but we’ll continually review this. Our site management team carries out regular risk assessments of all buildings on site together with event-specific assessments undertaken before we or others hold any event.

“As noted, there is a fire safety risk assessment report for Unit 14 due on 13 June. A health and safety site-wide buildings report in 2019 found no concerns over the building itself, which was also deemed to be in reasonable condition for occupation, in an insurance survey around the same time. Other buildings on the site which do not reach the appropriate standards have been closed and fenced off by us for public safety.

“Any event in this building or any other on site, whether run by us or local community groups, will be managed by experienced event organisers with appropriate fire safety risk assessments.”

During the hearing, PC Batchelor said police were also concerned about the venue’s lack of CCTV and its proximity to the River Ouse, noting that both these factors posed an additional safety concern.

Ultimately, however, the panel opted not to prevent the event from going ahead.

At time of publication, councillors have not yet provided details of how this decision was reached, although papers are expected to be published in the near future.