Agenda and minutes

Members and Officers must declare any disclosable pecuniary interests in relation to any business on the agenda. Declarations should also be made at any stage an interest becomes apparent during the meeting.

If in doubt contact the Legal or Democratic Services representative for this meeting.

There were no substitute Members.

There were no declarations of interest.

So as to provide the best opportunity for the Committee to provide the public with the fullest answer, questions from the public should be submitted by midday on Wednesday 16 August 2023.

Where relevant notice of a question has not been given, the person presiding may either choose to give a response at the meeting or respond by undertaking to provide a written response within three working days.

Questions should be submitted to Democratic Services - democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk

(Note: Public Question Time will last for a maximum of 30 minutes)

There were no questions from members of the public.

Pre-submitted Members questions are pursuant to rule 12 of the Council & Committee Procedure Rules.

Questions should be submitted by midday on Wednesday 16 August 2023 to Democratic Services, democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk

(Note: Member Question Time will operate for a maximum of 30 minutes.)

There were no questions from Members.

To consider a report by the Director for Sustainability & Resources, copy attached as item 4.

Before the Sub-Committee was a report by the Director for Sustainability & Resources, which has been circulated to all Members, a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as item 4. Members were requested to consider and determine an application from Brooklands Cafe, Brooklands Park, Western Road, Worthing.

Presenting Officer outlined the application

The Licensing Officer outlined the application explaining that there had been 2 representations from members of the public and 1 from a responsible authority, Sussex Police. The latter had suggested a number of conditions and as a result mediation was successful, Sussex Police had withdrawn their objections and the conditions had been amended. The Applicant had also withdrawn the application for offsales of alcohol.

The public representors were concerned about public nuisance and anti-social behaviour. Although there had been no formal mediation between the Applicant and the public representors, one of them had informed the Licensing Officer that most of his concerns had been addressed with the exception of the hours applied for.

The applicant confirmed that the Licensing Officer had provided an accurate outline of the application.

Questions from Members for the presenting Officer

There were none.

Representation from the applicant

The Applicant explained that the representation from Sussex Police was prompted because on the application form they had expressed an interest in offsales. This had been an error made by his agent and he clarified that they had never had an intention to have offsales as part of the licence. The provision of alcohol was intended as an accompaniment to their menu only.

In response to the concerns expressed by the public representors, the Applicant acknowledged that the park had suffered from antisocial behaviour in the past. However, they had conferred with the police and the council about CCTV which they had agreed to install and anticipated that this would be a deterrent to antisocial behaviour.

The applicant described how they would be having a broad menu of cooked food and were employing four chefs. The venue would not be offering beer on tap or cocktails and there would be no showing of televised sports. Generally the Cafe would be closing at 5.30 - 6 pm. The hours that had been applied for were to allow for any special events at the park that may need a later finish. All alcohol would be served in glasses on the premises eliminating the problem of plastic cups going out into the park. With regards to serving alcohol near children, the applicant pointed out that many other restaurants and cafes serving alcohol, such as Perch on Lancing Beach and Coast Cafe were also positioned in family areas without any detrimental results.

In addition, following discussions with the Council, the applicant would be instrumental in keeping toilets clean, open and usable.

Questions from Members to the applicant

Members enquired what training staff would be given regarding refusing to serve alcohol to customers who appeared inebriated. Members also raised concerns that, due to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item LCSC/16/23-24