Cheam Sports Club licence bid: comment by 28 August

Cheam Sports Club has applied to Sutton Council for a new premises licence covering alcohol sales until 1am on Friday and Saturday nights, live and recorded music indoors and outdoors, and opening hours to 1.15am at weekends. Anyone affected has until 28 August to make a representation, and if any valid objections come in, the application goes to a hearing of the council’s Licensing Committee. (London Borough of Sutton, current premises licence applications)

The club, an unincorporated members’ sports club on Peaches Close, Cheam, SM2 7BJ, wants the licence to start on 1 September 2026. The full application, with the premises plan, is published on the council’s licensing page as a redacted PDF.

What the club has applied for

The application describes the premises as a clubhouse with a members’ lounge and bar, a function room used for club events, private functions and community activities, a kitchen, changing facilities and the outdoor sports grounds. The function room, it says, is regularly used for “presentations, celebrations, meetings and social gatherings for members, guests and the general public”.

The hours applied for, from the operating schedule in the application:

• Alcohol, on the premises only: 11am to 11.30pm Sunday to Thursday, and 11am to 1am on Friday and Saturday nights. The form states “on premises sales only”, and the club’s proposed conditions add that “alcohol will not be taken off the premises”.
• Entertainment, indoors and outdoors: live music, recorded music, performances of dance, plays, films, indoor sporting events and similar entertainment such as DJ sets, karaoke, open-mic and comedy nights, from 10am to 11pm Sunday to Thursday and 10am to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. The application commits that “outdoor music will cease by 22:00 latest” on every day of the week.
• Late-night refreshment, indoors only: hot drinks from 11pm to 11.30pm Sunday to Thursday, and 11pm to 1am on Fridays and Saturdays.
• Opening hours: 10am to 11.45pm Sunday to Thursday, and 10am to 1.15am on Friday and Saturday nights.
• New Year’s Eve: licensable activities would run through until the start of permitted hours on 1 January, though the 10pm outdoor music cut-off still applies.

The conditions the club is offering

The application acknowledges head-on that “the premises are located in a residential area and particular care will be taken to minimise noise and disturbance”. The steps it proposes include CCTV throughout key internal and external areas, a refusals log and incident log available to the authorities, staff trained to refuse service to intoxicated customers, and SIA-registered security “for larger events… where appropriate”.

On noise, it says all outdoor events will be risk assessed in advance, music levels will be monitored, “events will not take place late at night” outdoors, signage will remind customers to respect neighbours and leave quietly, and windows and doors will remain closed during indoor amplified events except for people coming and going. A Challenge 25 policy would run at all times, and a Designated Premises Supervisor would oversee alcohol sales.

How to have your say

Representations must be in writing (email is accepted) and must include your full postal address. The council will only consider comments that relate to the four licensing objectives: the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance, and the protection of children from harm. Comments judged vexatious, frivolous or repetitious are not considered, and whatever you write is passed in full to the applicant.

One warning from the council’s own guidance: it gives customer parking as its example of something outside the premises owner’s control, so a representation about parking on surrounding streets “wouldn’t be considered”. The borough’s general rules and charges are on our parking in Sutton page.

What it means for you

If you live near Peaches Close, the substance of this application is weekend nights: alcohol until 1am and the building open until 1.15am on Fridays and Saturdays, with amplified music indoors until midnight. The counterweights the club has put in writing are the 10pm outdoor music stop and the closed-windows rule for indoor amplified events. If any of that concerns you, or reassures you, the deadline to say so is 28 August 2026; applications are removed from the council’s page after that date.

If representations are received, the Licensing Committee decides the application at a hearing and everyone who made a valid representation is invited. If none are received, the licence is granted as applied for. We will report the outcome from the council’s record either way.