Agenda and minutes

It was moved by Councillor J Clarke, seconded by Councillor C Sewell and

RESOLVED THAT:

Councillor M Hay take the chair for the remainder of the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence.

Under the Code of Conduct members are reminded that in declaring disclosable interests you should make clear the nature of that interest and whether it is pecuniary or non-pecuniary.

Councillor J Clarke declared a non-disclosable interest in the matter before the Hearing having met and spoken to the applicant earlier in the day whilst viewing the site.

PREMISES:    Eden Bistro, 1-3 Ashby Road, Moira, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE12 6DJ

APPLICANT:Mr Charles Griffin

To determine an application for a premises licence in respect of the above.

Representations have been received from 1 responsible authority and 5 other persons.  A Notice of Hearing inviting them to attend has been sent to each of them.  If they fail to attend, the hearing can be held in their absence or adjourned.

The following documents are attached: -

a)    Report of the Licensing Enforcement Officer

At the beginning of the Hearing, the authority shall explain to the parties the procedure it is proposed to follow.  The Hearing shall take the form of a discussion led by the authority and cross-examination shall not be permitted unless it is required to consider the representations.

The Chairman introduced the parties in attendance and outlined 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 limit for each presentation would be ten minutes.

Paul Dennis, Licensing Enforcement Officer, presented the report and additional papers to members, highlighting that as the premises had not been open at the time of writing there had been no complaints concerning public nuisance. Furthermore, there had also been no complaints to date regarding the premises since it’s opening through several Temporary Event Notices on 30 April 2021, it was later clarified that this meant the premises had been open for approximately 10 days.

In response to questions from the Chairman and Councillor Clarke, the Licensing Enforcement Officer confirmed that there had only been one complaint to Licensing relating to public nuisance in the area throughout his eight years working for the Council which concerned the Rawdon Arms which was situated opposite Eden Bistro. 

In response to a question from Councillor Sewell, the Licensing Enforcement Officer clarified that the nearby Conkers site only held a small number of late night events every year, that Conkers were permitted to play live and recorded music until 23:00, and there had been no complaints regarding these events.

Responding to the points made by the Licensing Enforcement Officer, the Applicant clarified to the Sub-Committee that in his position as a Parish Councillor he was only aware of a single complaint of anti-social behaviour at the Rawdon Arms relating to a single family. And that anti-social behaviour in Ashby Woulds was normally associated with the Bath Grounds which were not in the immediate vicinity of Eden Bistro. 

Rob Jephcote, agent for the applicant then presented the application. In doing so he highlighted that the site was currently considered derelict and had partially been renovated into offices with Eden Bistro intended to similarly be a source of local employment and an asset to the community. It was also highlighted that the Police had made no representations to the application and previous comments on the lack of complaints in the area regarding other premises were reiterated. In response to concerns raised in written objections regarding parking it was explained that there would be 33 car parking spaces and two disabled spaces at the venue in addition to an additional car park opposite available if required, and double yellow lines preventing the parking of customers on the road outside the venue. It was also explained that a double door seal at the main entrance and lack of windows would mitigate against the likelihood of noise escaping the venue. Referencing the Moira Placecheck document submitted in support of the application, it was noted that recommendations to redevelop unused sites, encourage visitors to the town, and improve the eating out options in Moira were all met by the proposed application.

The applicant, Charles Griffin then addressed the committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.