Maldon District Council's licensing sub-committee will decide next Thursday (11 March) on whether to allow a vineyard to extend its wine barn opening hours until 11pm each day.

When not under pandemic restrictions as is currently the case, Crouch Ridge Vineyards in Fambridge Road, Althorne, is allowed to sell alcohol between 10am and 6pm daily, allowing consumption on the premises.

In late January, the vineyard applied to extend the hours to 11pm daily, in order to hold evening wine tasting, tasting evenings and food and wine pairings.

Crouch Ridge Vineyards is a 15-acre vineyard with a wine barn where wine is sold and made from grapes grown from the vineyard.

A statement from the applicant, Samantha Lonergan, on documents submitted to the sub-committee reads: "With the amount of wine we can produce increasing, and the range of wines we are making we need to expand our operation.

"This includes wine tasting, wine and food pairings and a restaurant. We wish to extend our licence to 10.00 till 23.00 in order to hold evening wine tasting, tasting evenings and food and wine pairings.

"We are becoming know as a great place to go for fine local wines and good local food, and to accommodate our popularity we would like to extend our hours so more people can enjoy what Crouch Ridge has to offer with specials menus and award winning wines and locally made drinks."

There have been a total of four written objections to the proposals from residents, centred on concerns over noise and disruption to village life, littering, traffic problems, the potential for increased anti-social behaviour and crime and the disturbance to wildlife and a nearby cemetery.

Possible outcomes for the application

The possible outcomes of the councillors' decision include:

-granting the application as it stands

-refuse the application in whole or in part.

If the applicants are granted the extended hours, the go-ahead will then be decided by a separate planning application, which will look at different aspects of the plans, including any potential issues with highways, noise pollution and littering.