Issue - meetings

The Licensing Enforcement Officer presented the report and outlined the application.

In response to a question from Councillor Page-Croft, the Licensing Enforcement Officer stated as this application had been submitted on 22nd February 2021, the previous version of the Statement of Licensing Policy needed to be used when determining this application. Not the Statement of Licensing Policy and the publication of a separate Cumulative Impact Assessment approved by Full Council on 1 March 2021.

Confirmed the Cumulative Impact Assessment agreed by Full Council on 1 March 2021 was very similar to that of the previous Assessment.

Applicants presentation

In response to the questions raised to the presentation the Agent said the following:

      i.         The proposed conditions put forward by the applicant were in response to discussions with Police representatives and were unique to this application.

    ii.         There was a Co-op at 177 Mill Road which had been on this site for many years; the conditions on this premises would not be the same as other premises on different locations.

   iii.         An independent company, Mighty, supplied security and CCTV to the Co-op, which was a long-standing contract. This indicated there were no issues and the Co-op were happy to continue this arrangement.

  iv.         All security guards were SIA (Security Industry Authority) accredited.

    v.         Noted the comments made a member of the public that the Co-op, 177 Mill Road, was not 200 yards as stated but half a mile away.

  vi.         Would agree to the Police recommendation that all spirits would be displayed behind a secure glass cabinet.

Police representative presentation

In response to the questions raised to the presentation the Police Representatives said the following:

      i.         There were several premises along Mill Road that sold alcohol.

    ii.         The Police were aware that these premises sold alcohol to street life drinkers, but this was not an offence unless the buyer was intoxicated.

   iii.         Had undertaken joint working with Cambridge City Council Licensing and Enforcement Officers to advise licenced businesses of the impact of selling alcohol to street drinkers.

  iv.         It was possible that those selling alcohol may not know who the vulnerable individuals were and who was purchasing alcohol to consume on the streets.

    v.         The inclusion of the SIA condition would be the first line of defence and because of this the applicant was in a better position to deal with street life drinkers.

  vi.         Was aware of the amount of concerns raised by the public that was not on the Police system (non-reporting incidents) concerning street based anti-social behaviour (ASB).

 vii.         Incidents of ASB did increase around Mill Road compared to other areas of the City. These issues were raised on a regular basis at the City Council’s East Area Committee and received frequent e-mails from Councillors on these issues.

viii.         Mill Road was also part of the night-time economy which brought additional issues to the Police.

Ward Councillor

Councillor Robertson (Petersfield ward) said the following:

      i.         Up until 2015 there had been serious levels of anti-social behaviour incidents relating  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12