Agenda and minutes

Councillor Gawthrope was elected as Chair for the meeting.

No interests were declared.

All parties noted the hearing procedure.

The Assistant Licensing Officer presented the report and outlined the application for a variation of the Premises Licence under section 34 of the Licensing Act 2003 in respect of The Castle, 37 St Andrews Street, Cambridge, CB2 3AR.

The Assistant Licensing Officer highlighted to Members that the extended recorded music licensed hours Monday to Sunday included earlier times from 12:00 to 20:00 hours.

In response to Members’ questions the Assistant Licensing Officer stated:

i.             The Applicant was not looking to change the licensed hours on Fridays or Saturdays.

ii.            To add in the extended recorded music hours being 12:00 – 20:00.

Applicant’s Representative

Mr Butt made the following points on behalf of the Applicant:

i.             The application sought not only to extend the licensed hours for recorded music but also for the licensed hours to start earlier.

ii.            The representation considered the type of premises, the typical clientele and the reasons for the application.

iii.           The Castle was a small pub with capacity for approximately 150 people; it was therefore a drop in the ocean compared to the Regal which had a capacity of 1600 people and opening hours until 4am or Vodka Revolution which had a capacity of over 1000 people.

iv.          The clientele, pricing structure and business model of the Castle was not at the discount end of the market as alcohol is bought direct from Greene King, the cheapest pint costs £3.95 and spirits at £3.50.  No promotions or discounts were offered at the Castle, the clientele were young professionals, with a small number of students.

v.           The pub had a bed and breakfast with 6 bedrooms which they hoped would be busy all the time.  Since the premises opened in February there was a growing emphasis on food.  Last food orders were usually 21:30 however customers would eat their food until 22:30, it was hoped that customers who were already in the premises would be able to stay and watch for example stand-up comedy.

vi.          Throughout February there had been temporary event notices (TENs) and the Castle had traded during the hours that were applied for as part of the variation application.  There were no problems throughout February, the statistics put in by the Police did not relate to the Castle.      

vii.         The applicant was asked what was the earliest terminal hour they could trade to and still do something a bit different.  They were not trying to draw new people in they were trying to do something a bit different for the existing clientele.  The extension was sought until 02:00 Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and the application in relation to Thursday was abandoned.

viii.       A further condition was proposed that no new entry be permitted after 01:00 Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so modifying 02:30 to 01:00, so simply an extra hour of alcohol sales was being sought for those days.

ix.          No representations were received from Environmental Health, residents or interested parties.

x.           There was an error on page 7 of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.