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 declaration of interests / substitute members

To receive any questions from Members of the public in accordance with Standing Order 11.2

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

There were no questions from the public

To consider a report by the Director for Communities, copy attached as item 3

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Communities, a copy of which had been circulated to all members, a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as item 3. The application has been the subject of formal representation by a responsible authority and members of the public and it therefore fell to the sub-committee to determine.

Introduction by the Senior Licensing Officer

The Senior Licensing Officer introduced the report to the Committee and updated the Committee on successful mediation since the publication of the report. Members were told that agreements had been made with Environmental Protection and three members of the public concerning the use of tables outside of the premises. Members were informed of an incident where the Senior Licensing Officer had asked the premises to turn the volume down during a Scrutiny investigation into the night time economy.

Members questions for the Licensing Officer

A Member asked about the noise incident whereby the Senior Licensing Officer had asked for the music to be turned down. Members were told that the management had not been aware that the sound was too loud and it was accepted that the premises had been short staffed and the manager had been working behind the bar at the time. The Council had received no formal complaint about noise that evening.

Representations of Members of the Public

Resident A made a representation which is summarised as follows:

·       There were concerns about the volume of music from the premises;

·       Flats close to the premises needed to have windows open during summer months which meant that there was no barrier from excessive noise;

·       Noise leaked from the premises when people left and entered the premises;

·       There was noise from patrons moving across to other bars in town;

A resident made a representation which is summarised as follows:

·       There would be limited pavement space when tables were outside the premises;

·       Issues from the premises lasted through the day and into the evening;

·       The premises could cause anti-social behaviour;

·       Residents close to the premises included young families with young children;

·       Drunk people were outside the premises in the early hours of the morning;

·       The area was not a transient area and there was a different demographic;

A resident made the following representation which is summarised as follows:

·       The area was residential and not appropriate for a night club, locality was important when assessing nuisance;

·       The area should not be associated with the Town Centre;

·       Premises brought problems to the area that could not be controlled, noise from the street and car park could be directly attributed to the closing hours of the premises;

·       Members were told that the resident had been woken by drunk voices and arguing in the early hours of the morning;

·       People used walls and doors as urinals;

·       A Cocktail bar was for drinking and partying it does not stop at one drink;

·       If the premises could not control the behaviour of patrons leaving then the Authority  ...  view the full minutes text for item LCSC/7/21-22