Otley hotel has ‘no complaints from guests’ as it seeks 2am drinking hours extension

The Chevin Country Park Hotel and Spa, in Otley, has asked Leeds City Council for a licence to serve alcohol until the early hours each day.

The venue’s Woodland Suite already has a booze licence until 2am, but last orders elsewhere in the hotel are at 11pm. Bosses say the extension would bring all parts of the site into line and make it more “straightforward” to run.

But two people, including one from a nearby B&B, had complained about the proposal, with one suggesting increased noise could be harmful to the natural environment.

However, neither objector attended a public hearing at Leeds’ Civic Hall on Tuesday, where the case was heard.

Speaking on the hotel’s behalf, solicitor Chris Grunert said: “What we are hoping to do is to unify the hours across the site until 2am, so we don’t have a situation where some places (on the site) stop before others.

“The nearest people will be our fee-paying guests.

“The Chevin Country Park Hotel and Spa is a place where people come for relaxation and tranquility

“We’re certainly not getting complaints from our guests coming to us the next day saying, “We’ve heard this or that.””

Mr Grunert said the written objections to the council were “the first time we’ve heard” from either of the two parties who’d complained.

He also said there was no record of complaints from elsewhere since the current manager started 18 months ago.

He also said that the venue hosts around 130 weddings a year, adding, “It doesn’t suggest a chronic or persistent noise issue.”

A panel of three councillors said the hotel would be informed of their decision on the matter within five working days.