THE owner of Stanmer House has applied for a new premises licence to sell alcoholic drinks but faces opposition from a conservation group.

KSD Support Services wants to be able to use the ground floor and garden as a café, restaurant or pub and the upper floors as offices.

The Brighton and Hove Estate Conservation Trust, which manages tenancies in Stanmer, has objected to the application on behalf of residents.

The application will be decided by a Brighton and Hove City Council Licensing Panel meeting on Friday 25 June.

After the initial objections, KSD amended its application, reducing the times when alcohol would be on sale to between 9.30am and 11pm.

The company had applied to serve drinks until 2am and host dancing, live music and boxing and wrestling until 3am – requests that have now been qithdrawn.

The conservation trust said that 11pm closing would attract more people to the park and increase noise.

It said: “The premises would cause significant disturbance to tenants in Stanmer Village, both current and future ones, with taxis, cars and people walking, entering the park in the evening and leaving the park late at night, and all the noise and general disturbance that would cause.

“The park is most definitely not suitable for people to walk anywhere late at night as there is no lighting to assist them.

“This is a park. It is not an urban area. And thus this type of late-night activity is entirely unsuitable.”

The trust’s letter of objection also raised concerns about crime because Sussex Police tended to focus on central Brighton at weekends, notably West Street and the lower promenade.

It also had concerns about the nearby One Garden business and the prospect of attracting young people from the universities to the site for late drinking.

KSD bought the lease for the property in 2016 from developer Mike Holland after he was jailed for manslaughter over the death of a carpenter working in premises behind the main house.

Brighton and Hove City Council owns the freehold.

The grade I listed mansion has been closed since January last year when the previous commercial tenant went bust.

A licensing pane made up of three councillors is due to consider the application at a virtual meeting next Friday (25 June).

The meeting is scheduled to start at 10am and should be webcast on the council’s website