AFTER 18 consecutive years of hosting D' Original Vale Breakfast Party, the organiser of the event left the Port of Spain Magistrates' Court in disappointment yesterday after a magistrate refused to grant him a liquor licence to host the fete this year.

The decision of Senior Magistrate Annette McKenzie to not grant the licence to Anthony Young has the potential of leaving thousands of people seeking refunds for tickets already purchased to attend the event, which was scheduled for Carnival Sunday in Diamond Vale, Diego Martin.

The Express was told that the cost for attending the event was nothing less than $700 and all tickets had been sold since December.

Attorneys representing the organiser of the party, however, are seeking to appeal the decision in order to have the event take place.

Directly after refusing to issue the licence, McKenzie granted one to the organiser of the Sunny Side Up Breakfast Party, which is also scheduled to take place on Sunday in Diamond Vale.

Last month, close to 300 members of the Diamond Vale Residents Committee objected to the two events due to indiscriminate parking, excessively loud music and other issues.

A petition signed by 265 people objecting to the parties was presented to the Licensing Committee, which is headed by McKenzie.

The petition stated that the events often drew in excess of 4,000 people which would in turn lead to damage of property, excessively loud music, fights, people urinating on walls, indiscriminate parking and people engaging in sexual acts in their vehicles.

The Sunny Side Up Breakfast Party will be at St Michael's Parish Hall, Wendy Fitzwilliam Boulevard, while D' Original Vale Breakfast Party was scheduled to take place at Amethyst Park. Both parties were supposed to take place between 3.30 a.m., and midday on Sunday.

"A person has the choice of if they want to participate in Carnival or not. Some people would prefer to not take part but instead spend Carnival in church or on the beach." McKenzie said.

After visiting the Diamond Vale area on January 22, she said she noticed that the location designated for parking for those attending D' Original Vale Breakfast Party was approximately 1,000 feet away from where the party would be taking place.

This, she said, led her to believe that some of those attending the event would prefer to park as close as possible to where the fete was happening, not wanting to walk any long distance after parking their vehicles.

She added that Amethyst Park was unfenced and was not large enough to accommodate the close to 2,800 people expected to attend the party.

There was also no evidence led that proceeds from D' Original Vale Breakfast Party contributed in anyway to the development of the community, said McKenzie.

On the other hand, the magistrate said the organiser of the Sunny Side Up Breakfast Party, Collin Miles, had secured Diego Martin Secondary School as the parking lot for his patrons.

The school is located directly opposite to St Michael's Parish Hall.

McKenzie said the priest from the parish hall testified that the church usually benefitted from the proceeds of that party. Evidence was also led that the school also benefitted from the proceeds of the Sunny Side Up fete, said McKenzie.

Also, there were not many residents living in close proximity to where that party would be taking place, she said.

Following the ruling, attorney Keith Scotland, who represented the organisers of both parties, told the magistrate that it was his intention to appeal the matter.

Anthony Young, organiser for D' Original Vale Breakfast Party, who hastily left the courtroom following the ruling, did not give a comment to members of the media.