Chichester trampoline park denied alcohol licence

Flip Out opened in Glenmore Business Park off the A27 back in 2017.

Now the company wants permission to sell alcohol at its café and open later so it can host events for private groups and has submitted a premises licence application to Chichester District Council.

The plans were discussed at a alcohol and entertainment licensing sub-committee last month.

The panel of three councillors granted a licence for late night refreshment, but refused a licence to sell alcohol.

Tim Wyatt, a senior environmental health officer at the council, said: “It remains my professional opinion that trampolining is a high risk activity which is incompatible with the sale of alcohol and it will rely on a certain amount of human diligence which is vulnerable to fail and any consequences of failure could be very serious for the individuals.”

He pointed out there had been 48 injuries reported at Flip Out since 2017 and these were incidents ranging from leg breaks to concussions.

Mr Wyatt raised two concerns, one about potential proxy alcohol sales for people trampolining and another on possible reduced supervision by adults drinking.

Jon Payne, managing director of Licensing Lawyers, said: “The aim of this premises is not to provide an outlet for alcohol, it is to allow people who are not participating in trampolining to take a single drink or two drinks while they are waiting for those people who are trampolining to finish their activity.”

Richard Wootton, owner of Flip Out Chichester, explained that their accident rate was 0.02 per cent, with more serious accidents in football, rugby, cricket and even golf than there are in trampolining.

He said: “I’m not applying for a licence to have loads of parties. I’m not applying for a licence to turn it into a go-to drinks venue.”

He described how this was purely to add an extra income stream into the business, adding: “We are struggling at times and are looking for the opportunity to enhance the income but it will not be done to the detriment of our customers’ health and safety.”

It was stressed that alcohol sales and consumption would be limited to the café area, with controls in place and staff training to stop any customers who have consumed alcohol to then use the trampolines.

Mr Payne described how Flip Out would be putting in place ‘severe and stringent control measures’ and felt it was ‘extremely unlikely’ given the short length of stays that anyone would become inebriated enough so they would ‘not be able to make valid decisions about their child’s welfare’.

The committee appeared to disagree, concluding the retail sale of alcohol ‘in any form would not be compatible with the activity of using a trampoline or permit a child to use one’.

The panel’s decision notice said: “It expressed its concern as to the staff’s ability ‘to patrol’ drinking by proxy when one individual purchases alcohol for others who can then still access the arena and also expressed concern about a responsible adult’s ability to give permission to children to undertake potentially dangerous or unsuitable activities, in relation to their skills, if alcohol had been consumed.

“The committee’s concern around this was the adult’s judgment being potentially impaired by the use of alcohol. This also impacted upon public safety as adults are also allowed to use the trampoline.”

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