For the latest position re Weymouth and Portland Council's continuing action against regular folk sessions - click this link to a post on 'The New Star session RIP' thread.

http://www.mudcat.org/Detail.CFM?messages__Message_ID=1163227

The the loss of this latest session - is despite ongoing efforts by (some of) the elected members of the Council to change the interpretation used by the Council's officers.

The chairman of the Licensing Committee, in particular is trying to change the policy to stop the officers preventing sessions - as he is also in charge of promoting the Council organised folk festival and the sessions organised as part of this, by the Council as part of this festival.

He at least accepts that this current treatment of local folk sessions is unlikely to result in general support for the Council's annual folk festival - from the outside folk community.
Who may have reasonably expected that over the past 3 years, the Council would have addressed and solved this threat to the success of their 3rd folk festival.