Agenda and minutes

Councillor Owers was appointed as Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Pippas declared a personal interest as the premises were in his Ward (Queen Edith’s).

All parties noted the meetings procedure.

The Committee received an application for a premises licence for the Queen Edith P.H., Wulfstan Way, Cambridge. The Assistant Licensing Officer outlined the application as detailed in the report.

 

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

 

     i.        The premises are located further forward in the site footprint than the unit it replaced but it is still set back from the road.

    ii.        The rear gardens of properties on Queen Edith’s way were the nearest neighbours.

   iii.        Retirement properties in the area were separated from the site by either shops or the road and long front gardens.

  iv.        Opening hours were not covered by the Licensing Act.

 

Applicant’s Agents

 

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

   v.        Individual Pubs now has six premises, three of which were located in Cambridge.

  vi.        The business model is based on Community Pubs and they seek to be good neighbours.

 vii.        The objections received mainly refer to the evening opening hours requested for Friday and Saturday nights.

viii.        The extended opening time period allowed an hour for drinking up which in turn resulted in a ‘soft’ cut off period. This reduces the numbers of customers exiting the premises at any one time and therefore reduces noise and disturbance. 

 

Member Questions

 

In response to Members’ questions, Mr Naisby made the following statements:

 

  ix.        The timing requested for New Year’s Eve were standard wording. It was not anticipated that the venue would be open for the full period permissible.

   x.        Other premises they owned in Cambridge were also in residential areas and had not caused any problems for neighbours.

  xi.        The two flats above the premises were expected to be let to the Landlord and other members of staff.

 xii.        The business plan was based on the proposed opening hours. A reduction in the hours would have a significant impact on the viability of the premises. The previous Public House on this site had closed as it was unviable.

xiii.        Until the premises were open for business, it was not possible to predict how much trade was done in the late evening periods. Sales logs from other premises were available.

 

Summing Up

 

All parties agreed that relevant points had been covered.

 

Members withdrew at 10.25 am and returned at 12.05 pm. Whilst retired, and having made their decision, Members received legal advice on the wording of the decision.

 

Decision

 

The Sub Committee unanimously resolved to grant the application as applied for, including the conditions proposed by the police, environmental health and Trading Standards, and a further condition which stipulates that the contact number of the designated premises supervisor be provided to local residents and displayed prominently at the entrance both to the public house and its car park, in order to ensure that instances of public nuisance can be addressed.