Meeting documents

There were no apologies for absence.

Councillor A Bridges declared that she had been approached by persons in relation to the application before the Committee and had been presented with their opinion on the matter and whether the TEN should be granted or refused. She advised that she had not formed any opinion on those representations and did not take them into account when assessing the information before her at the Committee. She advised the Committee that she reserved her right to draw a conclusion on the matter upon hearing all of the evidence and respresentations before her at the Committee, and that she took her position as a Member of Licensing Committee under full duty of her Code of Conduct obligations with an open, objective mind and on assessment of the individual merits of all matters before her.

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 twenty minutes.

It was agreed that the applications be considered together, with a decision notice issued on each separate application.

The applicant's representative advised the Committee that they had not had a chance to review the additional information that had been submitted by the Responsible Authority and requested an adjournment to do so.

The Committee adjourned at 6.51pm.

The Committee reconvened at 6.56pm.

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

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

- Of the total capacity for each premises.

- That both premises operated simultaneously.

- That there were conditions attached to the licences of both premises and a dispersal policy for both premises to assist in the reduction of public disturbance.

- That no formal complaints had been received following any of the previous TENs

- That the Licensing Authority does not set the capacity for a Licence, this would be up to the owners to decide.

There were no questions from the applicant.

In response to a question from the Responsible Authority, the Licensing Enforcement Officer confirmed to the Committee that the capacities for both premises were stated on their licences.

Mr Walton, on behalf of the applicant addressed the Committee. He advised that the two temporary event notices had been submitted in order for the applicant to host a third birthday party for the venues and that due to the differing times of the two licences the TEN was required to enable the guests to enjoy the whole event. He asked the Committee to note that no objection had been received from the Environmental Health Officers and the only objection was from the Police. He informed the Committee that the increase in capacity numbers was to take into account the external areas that would be used on the night. He advised the Committee that the statement on the blog re numbers was the number of attendees over a six hour period not all on the premises at the same time. He also stated that the information on the facebook page was a marketing ploy to sell the tickets, however he could confirm that nine hundred and ten tickets had now been sold. He informed the Committee that there was no evidence to suggest that there was an increase in crime and disorder and that the applicant ran a tight operation.

Following questions from Members the applicant's representative informed the Committee:

- Of the number of staff employed by the business and that clickers were used to keep a check on the number of people in any room at any one time.
- That they close the rooms down as they get quieter during the night, and re deploy the staff where needed around the premises and that all staff are trained.
- That they experienced very little trouble and disturbance inside the premises and if they felt a customer had already had too much to drink, they would refuse to serve them anymore.
- That they kept records of any incidents that took place on the premises.

The Responsible Authority addressed the Committee. He advised the members that they had always had a good working relationship with the Premises Licence Holder in the past. He raised concerns over both public safety and crime and disorder. In relation to public safety, concerns were raised over the total capacity across the two premises and how this would be monitored effectively. In relation to crime and disorder concerns were raised over the number of customers that would be leaving the premises at the same time and the impact that this would have on the policing of the area. He advised the Committee that the CCTV cameras were only monitored until 2am and that incidents increase following the later times.

Following questions from Members, the Responsible Authority advised the Committee:

- That they were objecting to the TEN application on both the grounds of crime and disorder, and capacity.
- That the issues that had been raised where general and not relating to TENS.
- That all their staffing resources on Friday and Saturday nights are focused on Ashby, and that the clubs do not have to deal with the incidents that happen on the streets.
- That the CCTV log shows more incidents, than the police are able to respond to.

Following a question from the applicant's representative, The Legal advisor suggested that the Committee adjourned to allow both parties the opportunity to hold discussions to come to a compromise over the issues raised as it was felt that there had been no open negotiations between to the two parties prior to the submission of the TEN.

The Committee adjourned at 8.40pm.

The Committee reconvened at 9.07pm.

The Legal Advisor advised the Committee that the two parties had agreed the amend the timings on the TEN for the sale of alcohol to cease at 3.30am and regulated entertainment to cease at 4.30am, and that a contribution would be made from the premises to the Police Authority in order for two additional Police Officers to be drafted in that night. She advised the Committee that they would therefore only need to consider the capacity of the premises for the event.

The Chairman asked the parties to make their closing statements on capacity only.

The applicant's representative advised the Members that the premises had a fire safety risk assessment in place and that Fire Safety Officers had visited the premises to identify any issues to what the capacity would be. He also advised the Committee that past TENs had run in the past with no problems.

The Responsible Authority advised the Committee that previous TENs had not been held for such a big event, and that the club would be filled to capacity and therefore raised concerns over public safety.

The Committee adjourned at 9.13pm.

The Committee reconvened at 9.50pm.

The two Temporary Event notices were considered together.