Meeting documents

There were no apologies for absence received.

There were no interests declared.

The Chairman introduced the parties and explained the procedure to be followed. The Hearing Regulations 2005 stated that the Authority must allow parties an equal period of time in which to present their evidence. It was agreed that the maximum time for each presentation be ten minutes.

The Chairman asked if anyone had any objections to the Members of Committee hearing the application.

There were no objections.

The Licensing Enforcement Officer presented the report to members, highlighting background information and the representations received.

Following questions from Members, the Licensing Enforcement Officer advised them that:-

- No complaints had been received by the Licensing department in relation to the Fake Festival, however she was unable confirm if any had been received by other departments.

- The operational hours of the Fake Festival were 12.00hrs to 00.00hrs and the supply of alcohol was permitted from 12.00hrs to 23.45hrs, and up to one thousand people were in attendance and entrance was controlled by tickets.

- Supply of alcohol for consumption off the premises allowed the sale of alcohol at events such as Markets to be consumed at home.

There were no questions from the applicant; however they did advise the committee that there was a small area on the site plan within the appendices that was not controlled by the applicant.

Following questions from the interested parties, the Licensing Enforcement Officer advised the Committee:-

- That it would be up to members to decide if they wished to differentiate times for the sale of alcohol on and off the premises, however with the current order it would be illegal to take alcohol in an open container off the site, but a closed bottle of wine could be taken away.

- Of the process that an applicant would need to follow once a licence application had been submitted.

Mr Fargher, on behalf of the applicant presented his case and made the following points:-

- The current Town Council felt that the grounds could be put to better use by holding organised events for families in the town.

- More use for organised events was less likely to encourage anti social behaviour.

- There had been no complaints received for the Fake Festival and that the Town Council had received an email from the Police advising that the event had been well organised and that there had been fewer problems over the weekend, than there were on a normal weekend.

- The Town Council understood the concerns and issues that had been raised by the residents over the state of the Bath Grounds following both the circus and the festival, however it had been a very wet period and therefore it had been difficult for the equipment to be removed and for the grounds staff to be able to restore the ground.

- The Town Council Staff worked every day to clear litter from the site, restore the ground that had been damaged following the events and clear the surrounding roads following the removal of the equipment.

Following questions from Members, Mr Fargher advised the Committee:-

- That they had applied for 26 days, however no events had been planned as the Town Council wanted to wait until the application had been determined.

- That any one who wished to arrange an event on the grounds would need to apply to the Town Council for a license and would need to ensure that all Health and Safety assessments were carried out and submitted to the Council, and that organisers of events are encouraged to advertise the event in the local newspaper and local newsletter, and to also visit the residents within the surrounding area to advise them of the event.

- That the Town Council felt that applying for the License would allow events to happen on a more regular basis rather than applying for Temporary Event Notices.

- That following the circus, lessons had been learnt and that no equipment would be moved after 10.00pm and that staff from the Town Council would monitor the event throughout its duration to ensure compliance with the terms of the License.

Following questions from the Interested Parties, Mr Fargher advised the Committee:-

- That due to the area that was exclusive to the Cricket Club over the weekends, during the summer, the area of the grounds where the Bowling Green is sited was the most suitable to hold the events and that during the Cricket Season, the club would mark the outfield clearly to ensure the ground was useable.

- That due to the poor weather it had been difficult to remove the marquee and the skip following the Fake Festival.

- That the Town Council had applied for a maximum twenty six days, but would be happy to consider reducing the number of days should the Committee be minded to permit.

The Legal Advisor advised all parities that the Sub Committee would adjourn to give them the opportunity to discuss and agree the number of days that licensed events could take place. He also advised all parties that the applicant had the right to apply for twelve Temporary Event Notices, allowing for a total of up to eighty four days for Licensed events, and that these would be granted unless a representation from either the Police or Environmental Health was received.

At 12.00pm the Sub Committee adjourned to allow both the applicant and the interested parties the opportunity to discuss and agree the number of days that licensed events could take place and any conditions that the interested parties felt that the members should consider.

At 12.15pm the Sub Committee reconvened the meeting.

Following the adjournment, the Interested Parties put forward the following amendments that they would like the applicant to consider:-

- No more than one weekend event in every six weeks to allow the ground to recover between events. Therefore a maximum of nine events in a twelve month period.

- No alcohol to be sold, but there would be flexibility in the times of the events.

- Noise levels to be monitored and clear notice of who was responsible for damage that was caused before, during and after the events.

The Town Council did not feel that nine days was acceptable.

The Licensing Enforcement Officer advised the Committee that the number of days that were licensed were counted from when the event opens to the public and does not include the days required to set up and clear away.

The Town Council advised that sixteen days would be acceptable, however the six week gap was too binding as the dates could clash with other large events organised elsewhere in the District and in turn would put a strain on the responsible authorities.

A discussion then took place between all parties about supply of alcohol times and the possibility of including a designated area for the consumption of alcohol on the grounds at organised events only. The Interested Parties stated that they had no objection to the start time but requested an end time of 18.00hrs. The Town Council requested that the end time remained at 22.00hrs.

It was felt that as all parties had been involved in the discussions and been able to put forward their views on the application, in an attempt to reach an agreement on an acceptable number of days, times and conditions, closing statements were not required. The Legal Advisor confirmed to the Members the agreements that had been reached during the discussions. These were:-

- Maximum of sixteen days on which licensed events could be held. Members to consider the six week gap between events.

- Supply of alcohol for consumption off the premises between 09.00hrs and 22.00hrs, and on site until anytime between 18.00hrs and 22.00hrs.

- A designated area for consumption of alcohol on the site.

- The addition of a noise and general conditions.

At 12.55pm the Sub Committee adjourned to consider its decision and re-convened at 13.35pm.