The Committee and Scrutiny Support Officer confirmed that the Sub-Committee would comprise Councillors Connal, Fahmy and Jeffree.

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

RESOLVED –

that Councillor Fahmy be elected Chair for this hearing

There were no disclosures of interest.

Report of the Head of Community and Environmental Services.

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

Introduction to the application

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Head of Community and Customer Services outlining the application.

The Licensing Officer introduced the report. This was an application for a new premises license to serve late night refreshment. The original terminal hour sought was 0400, but following discussions with the police this had been amended to 0200. The premises would only offer a delivery service; there would be no sit-in or collection facilities nor would alcohol be served.  The Licensing Authority had written to the nearest 15 residents to the premises in accordance with the council’s policy.

The Licensing Authority had proposed three conditions which had been agreed by the applicant and no representation had therefore been submitted. It was noted that the first sentence on page 7 of the agenda “the premises licence holder shall ensure…” should be numbered as the first of the three conditions.

A representation had been received from Environmental Health as a responsible authority.  There had also been 22 objections from residents and two from councillors. The representations related to public nuisance.

The Licensing Officer underlined that certain matters were not considerations for the Sub-Committee:

·                    Pre-existing issues as these were not relevant to the grant of a new licence.

·                    Parking problems; as these were governed by other regimes.

·                    The need for the premises; as this was specifically excluded as a matter to determine in the legislation.

Some representations referred to antisocial behaviour, it was noted that the police had not objected. Members were asked to decide how much weight to give to the assertion that nuisance would increase following the grant of the licence. 

Following a question from the Senior Solicitor, the Licensing Officer confirmed that the Council had complied with the publicity requirements.

There were no further questions for the Licensing Officer.

Representations

Responsible Authority

Ms Catherine Trollope introduced the representation on behalf of Environmental Health. The representation related to the prevention of public nuisance and specifically noise and light.  The premises was located in a small industrial estate within a quiet residential location.  The estate had metal gates which were locked when the last unit closed.  The other units in the estate closed by 18.00 and traffic would therefore stop by this time.  Riverside Road was not a main road and there were no buses in the evenings.  Traffic monitoring had been undertaken and it was observed to be a very quiet environment later in the evening with few lights on.

There was no extraction unit at the premises and there were two windows which would be used for ventilation. There was a metal shutter with a door within it for access.  There was a potential for noise and light breakout from these windows and doors.

There was a concern about the disruption of delivery drivers accessing and leaving the premises. The associated noise and light, including vehicle headlights, could have an impact on residents.  The metal gates to the estate would also create a disturbance as they were opened and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.