Morley Cricket Club can ‘survive and prosper’ as it’s allowed to sell to non-members for first time

Morley Cricket and Sports Club, on Scatcherd Lane, will now be allowed to serve booze until midnight on weekends and 11pm the rest of the week, under the terms of a new licence granted by Leeds City Council.

A long-standing ban on serving guests who don’t have an annual membership with the club has also been lifted.

At least three of the club’s neighbours objected to the plan over fears they may be disturbed late at night.

But none of them attended a council hearing on Tuesday, where the matter was settled, to further their case.

Presenting the club’s application, trustee David Dowse said the new licence was “crucial” to the venue, because it had been hit hard financially during the pandemic.

He told councillors: “Morley Cricket and Sports Club has operated for many decades as a family-friendly environment which supports young people to play cricket.

“We’ve been battling over the years to survive. Numbers of our social members are declining and so to survive and prosper we need to attract new clientelle.”

Mr Dowse said that in recent years the club had welcomed in new running, rounders, rugby and football teams.

He added: “They love having our premises and they’d love to be able to support the club by having a drink afterwards, but they can’t afford to pay for a sub as well.”

The club said the new licence would enable it to host “family-friendly” private functions and help revive its annual Wicket Fest music festival, which was last held in 2019.

Asked about the objections from members of the public, Mr Dowse said he believed a number of noise complaints related to drinkers opening a fire door during the summer months.

He said the doors would now be fitted with an extra alarm to alert staff if they were opened.

The committee of three city councillors approved the club’s application, saying they were “reassured” that objections “had been listened to and addressed appropriately by the club”.