Away Resorts wants a mobile bar at the outdoor pool and four outdoor film nights a week. Godshill Parish Council objects and NFDC has logged 9 noise complaints.
Sandy Balls wants to sell alcohol from a mobile bar at its outdoor swimming pool until 10pm every day, and to double the number of outdoor film nights it can hold. Godshill Parish Council has objected, and New Forest District councillors decide on Tuesday 25 August.
The hearing is at 10am in the Council Chamber at Appletree Court in Lyndhurst, and it is open to the public.
The application, by Away Resorts Ltd, is a variation of the existing premises licence at Sandy Balls Holiday Park at Godshill, near Fordingbridge. It goes to a hearing rather than being granted on the papers for one reason: two people made representations inside the 28-day window, and the Licensing Act 2003 obliges the council to hold a hearing when it receives relevant representations.
What is being asked for
| Now | Applied for | |
|---|---|---|
| Alcohol at the outdoor pool | Not licensed | Mobile bar, on-sales 10am to 10pm, seven days a week |
| Outdoor films | Twice a week, 5pm to 11pm | Four times a week, 5pm to 11pm |
| Film season | Restricted to part of the year | Restriction removed |
| Indoor films | Restricted hours | 10am to 11pm |
The application also asks the council to delete the condition in Annex 2 of the licence that currently caps outdoor films, which reads: “Outdoor films will only be shown on two occasions per week during the hours of 17:00hrs to 23:00hrs between 1st March and 31st October each year.”
One wrinkle worth flagging, because members will decide from this document. The officer report describes the existing seasonal limit twice and gives two different end dates, 1 March to 30 September in one paragraph and 1 March to 31 October in the quoted condition. The report does not reconcile them.
The applicant says no extra safeguards are needed
Licence applicants have to set out the steps they will take to promote the four licensing objectives. On the poolside bar, Away Resorts offered one: only polycarbonate or plastic drinking vessels, and no glass.
On the films it offered nothing, and gave this reason:
the Park has shown films indoors and outdoors for many years without a single complaint and issue which would have a negative impact on the licensing objectives. There are therefore no additional steps required to promote the licensing objectives.
Against each of the four objectives in turn, crime and disorder, public safety, public nuisance and the protection of children, the form reads “As above, no additional steps identified”.
That claim about complaints does not match the council’s own record, which sits a few pages earlier in the same agenda pack. Environmental Protection has investigated nine complaints about amplified music from Sandy Balls between 2019 and 2026, with one more received recently and still being looked at. The report says two of those complaints, in 2019 and 2020, referred to the outdoor cinema. It also records that no statutory nuisance has been determined at any point, and that no cinema complaints have been received since 2020.
What the parish council says
Godshill Parish Council met on 14 July and objected on grounds of public nuisance and public safety, citing “numerous emails and phone calls received from residents”.
Its central argument is cumulative. Sandy Balls is already permitted 25 outdoor events with amplified music between March and October. Add double the outdoor film nights, the council wrote, and the total “could result in a substantial cumulative number of over 160 outdoor evening activities over the 8-month period”.
Its other points:
- The outdoor pool currently closes at 6pm, but the bar would be licensed until 10pm. The application does not say whether the pool itself would stay open.
- Some people living permanently on the site are as little as 16 metres from where the films are shown.
- Godshill is in a Level D tranquillity area under the National Park’s 2015 Tranquil Areas Mapping, inside the Western Escarpment Conservation Area, where dark night skies are a planning consideration.
- The site “sits on a ridge within Godshill and the established village spans two valleys on either side of this, giving an amphitheatre effect of 360 degrees”.
- A resident contacted management three times in June and early July asking for music to be turned down. The parish council questions whether the licence’s existing requirement to assess noise impact “from time to time” is being met.
- An 11pm finish “does not mean that disturbance ceases promptly, as groups of visitors then make their noisy way back to their lodges”.
The council was blunt about the balance it sees. The application, it wrote, “appears to be an attempt to increase the attractiveness of the Sandy Balls offer at the expense of local residents”, and most visitors “do not book them to be entertained outdoors by loud music and outdoor films. Otherwise, they would be better served by booking a holiday at Butlins.”
A Godshill resident who lives next to the site also objected, describing “a sound bath of noise from Sandy Balls as the backdrop to my life” and saying there are already ample places to buy a drink on the park.
No objection from the National Park or the police
This is the part that cuts the other way, and it matters. None of the responsible authorities objected. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service, the New Forest National Park Authority and the district council’s own Environmental Protection team all formally returned “no representations”. Hampshire Police, NFDC planning and National Park development control were all consulted.
So the objections before the sub-committee come from the parish council and one resident, not from the bodies whose job is to police the licensing objectives.
This argument is nine years old
The site was founded in 1919 by Ernest Westlake as a centre for outdoor education and has been run by Away Resorts since 2017. In that first year Away Resorts applied for indoor and outdoor films up to seven days a week. Objections followed, and the council’s environmental health team negotiated the two-a-week condition that the company is now asking to have removed.
What it means for you
If you live in Godshill, Godshill Wood or Newgrounds, the decision on Tuesday sets what Sandy Balls may do on how many evenings a week, and for how much of the year, for the foreseeable future. The hearing is public. You can attend at Appletree Court, Beaulieu Road, Lyndhurst SO43 7PA at 10am, though only the applicant and those who made representations have the right to speak and to question the other side. If you are driving over, check our roadworks and travel page first, because several roads between Fordingbridge and Lyndhurst are shut this fortnight.
The committee has three options: grant the variation as applied for, grant it in part or with extra conditions or shorter hours, or refuse it. Conditions are the usual landing place, and that is what happened in 2017.
If you are affected by the outcome, note that a right of appeal exists but it is narrow. Only the applicant and those who made relevant representations may appeal, to the Magistrates’ Court, within 21 days of being notified. The sub-committee’s decision stands until any appeal is heard.
If noise is your issue now, complaints go to the district council’s Environmental Protection team rather than the licensing process. Nine have been investigated since 2019 without a statutory nuisance being found, which is the legal test that would trigger enforcement. Licensing is a separate track from planning: our New Forest planning news page covers the development side, including the two planning authorities that split this district.
Frequently asked questions
What is Sandy Balls applying for?
A variation of its premises licence. Away Resorts Ltd wants a mobile bar in the outdoor swimming pool area selling alcohol from 10am to 10pm every day, four outdoor film nights a week instead of two, indoor films from 10am to 11pm, and the removal of the condition that limits outdoor films to part of the year.
When is the decision?
Tuesday 25 August 2026 at 10am, at a public hearing of the New Forest District Council Licensing Sub-Committee in the Council Chamber at Appletree Court, Beaulieu Road, Lyndhurst SO43 7PA.
Who has objected?
Godshill Parish Council and one member of the public. No responsible authority objected: Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service, the New Forest National Park Authority and the district council’s Environmental Protection team all returned “no representations”.
Has anyone complained about noise from Sandy Balls before?
Yes. The council’s Environmental Protection team has investigated nine complaints about amplified music between 2019 and 2026, with one more currently being looked at. No statutory nuisance has been determined at any point. Two of the complaints, in 2019 and 2020, referred to the outdoor cinema.
Can the decision be appealed?
Only by the applicant and by those who made relevant representations, to the Magistrates’ Court, within 21 days of being notified. The sub-committee’s decision stands until an appeal is heard.
Sources
- New Forest District Council, Licensing Sub-Committee agenda, 25 August 2026, for the meeting date, venue and papers.
- Officer report: application for the variation of a premises licence for Sandy Balls Holiday Park/Estate, for the terms of the variation sought, the site history, the consultation responses, the nine noise complaints, the Annex 2 condition and the options open to members.
- Appendix 2, the premises licence variation application, for Away Resorts’ own answers on the licensing objectives, including the no-glass condition offered at the poolside bar and the statement that films have been shown “without a single complaint”.
- Appendix 5, representations received, for Godshill Parish Council’s letter of 23 July 2026 and the resident’s objection of 28 July 2026.
- Licensing Act 2003, sections 34 and 35, and the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005, for the requirement to hold a hearing and the right of appeal, as set out in the officer report.
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