Meeting documents

It was agreed that Councillor N Smith Chair the Hearing.

(Councillor N Smith in the Chair)

Councillor N Smith introduced the interested parties and explained the procedure to be followed.

The Hearing Regulations 2005 stated that the Authority must allow parties an equal maximum period of time in which to present their evidence. It was agreed that the maximum time for each presentation would be twenty five minutes.

Miss C Gale presented the report of the Licensing Officer. In response to a question from Councillor P Clayfield, the Licensing Officer explained that as a matter of law, individual local residents did not have to be consulted by the Licensing Authority and it did not believe it was necessary.

Mr Botkai, the applicant's representative, then presented the application on behalf of the applicant. He reassured members that the shop would not be selling alcohol after 11pm and that the purpose for a late night refreshment licence was to sell hot drinks and hot food not the usual takeaway food.

Mr Botkai raised the following points with regards to the representations:

- Children sitting on the wall outside the premises was an issue 12 months ago but has improved. He explained to members that he proposed to add a condition to replace the wall with something that would discourage people to sit on it.

- Litter has always been a problem with many convenience stores and the Store Manager would be looking into resolving the issue.

- There were no intentions of opening the store on a 24 hour basis at this present time.

- There would be no increase in traffic or noise as the store would only be opening the hours which it currently does.

- There was not a problem with underage sales currently within the store and the staff follow the correct procedures.

- There would not be an increase in deliveries.

- There was no evidence that there would be an impact on drink driving by petrol stations selling alcohol.

In response to a question from a member, Mr Botkai explained that members of staff were very competent at dealing with people drinking alcohol on the site as it has happened in the past and the police were called and the people moved on.

Mr S Camomile then presented his objections as detailed within the report of the Licensing Officer. He stated that he believed that if the licence was granted it would encourage youths to drink on the street and be disordly. He also explained that even though the store was not planning to open for 24 hours currently, he felt that it would eventually which would cause more disturbance for residents.

In response to questions from Mr Botkai, Mr S Camomile explained that there was currently a problem with people drinking on the streets but he had not reported any incidents with the police.

Mr A Carlin then presented his objections as detailed within the report of the Licensing Officer. He explained that he was disappointed that there had been no consultation with the residents by the owners and that there was currently a problem with youths around the site that would only get worse. He reported that he had been approached by youths who tried to persuade him to buy them alcohol.

In response to a question from the applicant's representative, Mr Carlin explained that he did not know which store the youths wanted him to buy them alcohol from.

Councillor P Clayfield then presented the objections of Mr and Mrs Dyson, and Mr Green as detailed in the report of the Licensing Officer. She stated that the licence would encourage an increase in traffic late at night which would increase the level of noise and litter, plus would cause more problems with the youths in the area.

There were no questions for Councillor P Clayfield.

Councillor D Taylor MP presented the objections of Mrs P Betts as detailed in the report of the Licensing Officer. He raised concerns regarding the sale of hot refreshments and believed that this application would cause major problems in the area.

The applicant's representative proposed that if it would ease the concerns of the local residents he would be prepared to add a condition to the licence to restrict what refreshments could be sold, the wording was as follows:

'The refreshments would only be in the form of hot drinks, hot baguettes and other bakery items.'

The applicant's representative presented a petition supporting the licence which had been signed by local residents as asked if it could be considered. The members of the panel agreed to accept the petition but on consulting with the interested parties, who objected to the inclusion of the petition, it was agreed not to consider the petition with the application.

Ms S McMillan then presented her objections as detailed within the report of the Licensing Officer. She explained that the noise from the cars late at night would be a nuisance, as well as the youths who congregate outside the store. Also there would be an issue with underage alcohol sales.

In response to questions from the applicant's representative and members, Ms McMillan explained that she had sold alcohol to an underage person in her public house during a test purchase exercise. Also the opening hours of the public house were till 11pm during the week and 12.30am at weekends.

The applicant's representative proposed to remove the late night refreshment section of the application to help with some of the concerns from residents. The meeting was adjourned so that the applicant's representative could discuss this possibility with the local residents.

Meeting adjourned at 3.36pm and reconvened at 3.53pm.

Councillor D Taylor MP on behalf of the residents in attendance explained that after discussions it was felt that the removal of the late night refreshment section of the application would not capture what the residents were trying to achieve by objecting to the application, and would like the panel to consider the application as it stood.

The Interested parties declined to give a closing statement.

The applicant's representative gave a brief closing statement, during which he confirmed the additional condition regarding the replacement of the wall outside the store. He also reported that due to some of the residents being in favour of the removal of the late night refreshment section, the applicant was prepared to do so and asked Members not to consider this part of the application.

At 4.00pm the Sub-Committee adjourned to consider it decision and re-convened at 5.10pm.

The Legal Advisor on behalf of the Chairman, explained that the Panel took into account the Licensing Act 2003, guidance from the Secretary of State, the Statement of Licensing Policy, all the relevant representations made in writing and at the hearing. In particular the Panel drew attention to the guidance from the Secretary of State with regards to the granting of hours of trading. The guidance states that:

Shops, stores and supermarkets should normally be free to provide sales of alcohol for consumption off the premises at any time when the retail outlet is open for shopping unless there are good reasons, based on the licensing objectives, for restricting those hours. For example, a limitation may be appropriate following police representations in the case of some shops known to be the focus of disorder and disturbance because youths gather there.