The Committee and Scrutiny Support Officer confirmed that the Sub-Committee would comprise Councillors Crout, Lynch and Mills.

The Sub-Committee was asked to elect a Chair for the Hearing.

RESOLVED –

that Councillor Crout be elected Chair for this Hearing.

There were no disclosures of interest.

Report of the Head of Community and Customer Services

This report asks the Sub-Committee to consider an application for a new premises licence following the receipt of representations.

Appendix 1 will be available at the meeting.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Head of Community and Customer Services setting out details of an application for a new time-limited premises licence and also of the representations received.  

The Licensing Officer introduced the report.  She outlined the scope of the application and advised that there would be a number of marquees and a single stage.  There would be a maximum of 3100 visitors permitted at the event.  Two representations had been received from interested parties who were concerned about the levels of noise and the misuse of alcohol.  A number of conditions relating to noise had been agreed with Environmental Health and the applicant had attended the Safety Advisory Group to discuss issues including parking, location and food stalls.  She advised that if the Licensing Sub-Committee granted the licence, it would only be granted by the Licensing Authority once the responsible authorities confirmed that they were satisfied with other practical arrangements.

There were no questions for the Licensing Officer.

The Chair invited Mrs Jacky Wilson to present her representation.

Mrs Wilson advised the Sub-Committee that she lived on the Cassiobury Estate.  In her view, the park was a leisure facility and she questioned whether it should be used as a venue for events such as this.  The High Street would be a better location as the park should be preserved as a nature area suitable for children.  She could not see how an event for families was the right place to serve alcohol.  The event would last six hours during peak visitor time.  She had concerns that the visitors would consume a lot of alcohol as it would be readily available.  She summarised that in her opinion it was not the right venue.

Following a question from Councillor Lynch, Mrs Wilson said that the annual fireworks event did cause disruption to local residents.  She hoped that the dispersal from this event would be more staggered.

The Chair asked whether she had attended any of the events in the Park.  Mrs Wilson advised that she had walked through the park on several occasions when an event was taking place.  She felt that it was a shame that so many people were in the park who did not seem to appreciate it.

In response to a further question from the Chair, Mrs Wilson advised that she had attended a meeting of the Cassiobury Residents Association where remarks had been made about the number of events in the park.

Councillor Mills asked Mrs Wilson whether she was aware of the parking arrangements.  Mrs Wilson responded that she hoped many would drive to the event so that they would not drink alcohol.  Parking was not her main concern.

In response to a question from the Chair, Mrs Wilson confirmed that she had no particular concern with this event or applicant.  She was concerned that it would set a precedent.

Mr Matt Clark asked about Mrs Wilson's statement regarding alcohol.  She responded that it needed to be limited and she did not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.