Potters Bar primary school gets alcohol licence
Little Heath Primary School. Picture: Danny Loo. - Credit: Archant
A primary school in Potters Bar has been granted a premises licence to sell alcohol and to show films as part of its ongoing drive to raise funds.
Little Heath Primary School. Picture: Danny Loo. - Credit: Archant
Little Heath Primary School hosts an array of fundraising events throughout the year, including children's shows, Christmas fairs, summer fairs, fireworks and a quiz.
The Parent Teachers Association (PTA) use these events to raise between £16,000 and £20,000, that is then ploughed back into the school.
Until now the PTA has applied for a number of temporary event notices each year, whether to serve mulled wine at Christmas or run a bar for the quiz.
But on Monday they asked Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council's licensing sub-committee for a premises licence for the school, which is on School Road, Little Heath.
The licence allows the school to serve alcohol between midday and 11pm every day.
However there are only plans for it to be used for a small number of events at the school each year - comparable to the six or so held now.
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Laura Boillot, co-chair of the school's PTA, told the hearing the licence would make the organisation of the events easier and offer greater flexibility.
During the hearing she told councillors that attendance at the events varied - with around 1,000 people attending the fireworks (which has a capacity of 2,500), 200 coming to the Christmas Fair and 35 to the quiz night.
She said they had also considered holding an outdoor film night in the summer, but had not specific plans yet.
The application was considered by a meeting of the licensing sub-committee, after representations against the application were received from North Mymms Parish Council. No one from the parish council attended the meeting, although their views were taken into consideration.
Granting the application, sub-committee chairman Cllr Barbara Fitzsimons noted that the PTA had no intention of running events every day.
Following the meeting Ms Boillot said she was "very happy" with the sub-committee's decision.
She said fundraising at the school was "massively important" - bringing in money which had been used for a range of items including classroom equipment, netball kits, whiteboards and iPads - and even an outdoor classroom.
