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30th June 2010

Plans for a more “radical solution” to the live music performances in pubs have been welcomed by pubs in Norfolk.

Licensing minster John Penrose last week admitted that problems with live music centred around the volume of performances, rather than the number of people playing.

Licensees at some of the county’s more well known establishments, such as The Marquee in Norwich and The Bull at Hellesdon, said changes in licensing would “encourage more performers.”

Patrick Cutter, landlord and licensee at The Bull, said: “We have to be really careful about how many people we book, which limits what we can do.

“We don’t make a great deal from live music performances, but changes in the licenses would certainly make things easier.

“I think we have a certain duty to help local music.”

Broadland District Council, the authority responsible for licensing in the Broadland area, state in their licensing policy document that they wish to “to encourage licensees... to promote live music, dance, theatre etc for the wider cultural benefit of the community.”

Alison Falconer, spokesman for the district council said: “We are not making any changes yet, but as our policy document shows, we are in full support of local performers and small venues that want to host live music.”

The industry trade magazine, The Publican, is running a campaign called ‘Listen Up!’ to make it easier for pubs to host live music.

The campaign “promotes the idea that live music is a positive for pubs and their communities."