Agenda and minutes

Councillor Bird was appointed as Chair for the meeting. 

No declarations of interest were made.

All parties noted the procedure.      

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

Member Questions

In response to Members’ questions, the Licensing Enforcement Officer made the following statements:

       i.          The premises was not in a cumulative impact zone.

     ii.          The Out of Hours Noise Service had received 2 calls about the premises in the last 12 months. Visits had not been made because the noise had stopped or the complainant had not requested site visits. The Licensing Enforcement Officer was not aware of any substantive noise from the premises. The complaints had been made in the last 3-12 months. Officers had discussed some intermittent noise complaints with the licence holder.

   iii.          Statutory consultees had been contacted and made no objections. The Police had suggested some conditions. The premises owner had negotiated some conditions upon application for a licence and at a subsequent variation hearing. He appeared to be a fit and proper person.

   iv.          Some representations were made during the previous licence application and variations objections were addressed through conditions. There was usually a positive reaction towards the premises.

    v.          Officers had checked notices were on display in the premises window to ensure they were in-place and visible. It would be recorded if they were not.

Applicant

Mr Fraser made the following points:

       i.          His licence had been granted on the first day of the Live Music Act (2012) this had led to some confusion hence the applications for a variation.

     ii.          He ran a community café which was also a jazz venue. There were no noise problems.

   iii.          He had spent £3,000 in the last two months on ceiling acoustic measures to mitigate any noise issues.

   iv.          One complainant had raised various issues and behaved in an anti-social behaviour towards the premises and the licensee.

    v.          The licence extension was sought so that drinks could be served until 23:00. Music should stop 22:30.

The Legal Advisor said music could be played until 23:00 without a licence under the Live Music Act 2012.

   vi.          Complaints about noise had reduced over time.

Mr Fraser tabled some notes to address points made in representations. The Committee adjourned to read these.

Applicant’s Assistant

Mr Lynch made the following points about incidents of anti-social behaviour that he had witnessed:

       i.          A meetup event was held 6 June. Mr Lynch heard a noise at closing time and saw a man he recognised as raising a representation against the current application to vary the licence. There was spit on the door. The same man kicked and rattled a bike belonging to the café (which was parked at the top of the street).

     ii.          This kind of behaviour happened several times before. The same individual had also made rude gestures to staff.

   iii.          Staff found the individual’s complaints of anti-social behaviour about the shop odd due to his own behaviour towards them.

Applicant

Mr Fraser made the following points:

       i.          The café was a safe community space.

     ii.          He had applied for various temporary event notices to show  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17/4/Lic