The Committee and Scrutiny Support Officer confirmed that the Sub-Committee would comprise Councillors P Jeffree, M Meerabux and D Scudder.

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

                   RESOLVED –

                   that Councillor P Jeffree be elected Chair for this Hearing.

There were no disclosures of interest.

The Sub-Committee is asked to consider an application for a new licence at the above premises following the receipt of representations.

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

The Chair noted that the representations from Councillor Brandon and Nicola Bradford had been withdrawn.

The Licensing Manager introduced the report.   He advised that the application was for off-sales of alcohol and for the premises to be open to the public between 8am and 9pm.  The original application had had a terminal hour of 11pm but the Applicant had voluntarily amended the hours. There was one representation remaining, from Samantha Wilson. There had been no representations from Responsible Authorities.

The Licensing Manager advised that the report required some clarification; paragraph 7.4 referred to the representation from Nicola Bradford and paragraph 7.3 related to the representation from Samantha Wilson.

The Chair invited the Applicant’s Agent to present the application.

Ms Debra Silvester presented the application.  She explained that Mr Ali had taken on the shop two months ago and outlined his prior experience at other licensed premises in Willesden and the problems experienced in the locality. He was able to recognise street drinkers and intoxicated persons and respond appropriately. He had been a Personal Licence Holder since 2005 and was an occasional employee of Tesco where he had received extensive training. Mr Ali would be running the premises with his father and she outlined his experience. He was also a Personal Licence Holder. They wished to be in Watford which was quieter and to get to know the local community. Following the concerns of the interested parties, Mr Ali had amended the hours of the application. 

In his operating schedule, Mr Ali had volunteered to operate Challenge 25, to set up a refusals register, to display posters advertising that Challenge 25 applied and posters asking customers to leave the premises quietly. The high-strength beers favoured by street drinkers would not be sold. There would be a comprehensive CCTV system and footage could be provided to the Police on request. Ms Silvester referred to the concerns about the noise of the shutters; she advised that the shutters would be closed between 8pm and 8.30pm. It was hoped this would allay those concerns and Mr Ali was considering installing quieter electric shutters. Residents had also mentioned concerns about litter. She advised that Mr Ali was planning to ask the Council to install a litter bin in the vicinity and his staff would undertake litter picks.  Ms Silvester reiterated the experience that Mr Ali had and stated that the likelihood of the grant of the licence causing any problems was remote.

In response to a question from Councillor Meerabux, Mr Ali described the location of the premises in Willesden. He said that working in the location had given him experience of dealing with problems.

The Sub-Committee retired to consider its decision.

On the Sub-Committee's return, the Chair announced the decision.

                   RESOLVED –

Having heard the applicant’s submission and taking into account the representation from the Interested  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.