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Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald, Saturday 18 March 1950.
Chez Laurie Application Refused.
STRONG TRADE OPPOSITION.
Among the strong opposition offered at St. Augustine's Division
adjourned licensing sessions to an application for a full licence for
the "Chez Laurie," Thanet Way, was that of the licensees of the "Long
Reach," Whitstable, and the "Wheatsheaf," Swalecliffe, represented by
Mr. Malcolm Morris. Opposition was also forthcoming from the L.V.A.,
represented by Mr. W. Edred, from the homes in the area owned by
Mackeson and Co. Ltd., George Beer and Rigden Ltd. and Fremlin's Ltd.
(Mr. P. Bracher) and from the licensee of the "Roman Galley" (Mr. L.
Swain).
Mr. Gordon Friend, making the application, said the "Chez Laurie," which
was designed and built for its purpose and was granted a restaurant
licence in 1937, was unique between London and Margate. It catered for
the middle and upper middle classes who wished to patronise neither the
ordinary public house nor the first-class hotel. In the six months ended
December 31st it served some 35,000 main meals and was the only house on
Thanet Way where a meal could be obtained at any time.
There was an insistent demand by motorists for drinks before and after
meals and for drinks without meals. In this connection, Mr. Friend
stressed that the Government was trying to make this country more
attractive to overseas visitors and he suggested that Americans were not
likely to go to the "Hog and Donkey," Chislet, for instance. It was not
only a question of a local need, but of the need of the travelling
public.
Mr. D. W. G. Dollimore, the licensee, stated, as showing the present
demand for drinks, that in the past six months he had spent £2,500 on
supplies. The bookings for various functions ware growing and had now
reached two a week. On such occasions, as well as at the Saturday night
dinner-dances run at the hotel, there were difficulties with only a
restaurant licence and it was an embarrassment to ask a brother licensee
to obtain
an occasional licence. If the application were granted, he was prepared
to surrender the off-licence at Hawthorne Grange, behind the "Chez
Laurie."
Mr. Dollimore described the lack of a full licence as like driving a
high-powered car with the brake on.
Mr. Friend:- With rationed fuel might be more apt.
Evidence in support of the need was given by Mr. F. E. Spanton, farmer,
of Chislet Court, by Mr. F. N. Nason, hotel furnisher of Canterbury,
residing at Alexandra Road, Whitstable, by Mr. G. Tye, a Ramsgate
business man, and by Mr. W. S. Pullinger, former Chairman of the Herne
Bay Urban District Council, who said it would be a great convenience to
be able to take friends and business associates to the "Chez Laurie" for
a drink.
In cross-examination by Mr. Morris, Mr. Nason said that both the "Long
Reach" and the "Wheatsheaf" were high-class hotels and he had nothing
against them. The licensee of the former had shown enterprise by putting
tables in his saloon bar and serving excellently-cooked meals, but the
accommodation could not be compared with that of the "Chez Laurie."
Asked if he had supplied the hotel furnishings for the "Chez Laurie,"
witness replied “No. I should have made a better job of it if I had!”
(Laughter.)
Mr. Bracher contended that the restaurant licence was quite adequate
for
the purposes of the "Chez Laurie," while Mr. Morris said there was no
reason why motorists should want a drink at that particular point. He
thought Mr. Dollimore could the better keep up his clientele by not
having a full licence to that anybody could come in and have a drink.
Mr. Swann thought the application premature and that it might well have
waited until the end of fuel rationing. If the licence were granted, the
"Chez Laurie" might well have its character altered within a few years
to that of an ordinary public house.
After a retirement, the Bench refused the application.
Application was then made for an additional wine and spirits licence
for the present off-beer licence at Hawthorne Grange. This also met with
trade opposition but was eventually granted.
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