Agenda and minutes

By affirmation of the meeting, it was

RESOLVED THAT:

Councillor J Legrys take the chair for the remainder of the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence received.

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

Councillor J Legrys declared that he knew Councillor D Bigby in a professional capacity from his work as a councillor.

PREMISES: XXX Buns, 7 Bakery Court, Market Street, Ashby de la Zouch, LE65 1AN.

APPLICANT: Mr Anthony Haslam.

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

above.

A representation has been received from Ashby Town Council. A notice of hearing inviting a representative to attend has been sent. 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. It was agreed that the maximum presentation time would be ten minutes.

The Licencing Enforcement Officer presented his report. He detailed how the Applicant had agreed to certain conditions of licence. He situated these within the Council’s Statement of Licencing Objectives which he set out for the panel. He advised the panel that the formal conditions to hold the hearing had been met, and also informed the panel of the one representation which had been received, from Ashby Town Council. He advised the committee on the powers available to them and the right to recourse which the Applicant had open to him if felt necessary and desired.

In response to a couple of queries from Members, the Licencing Enforcement Officer advised the panel that the venue was already open but without a licence.

The Applicant spoke. He told the panel that he regarded the licencing objectives as something which he had a responsibility to uphold to the required standards and there was no reason why he would not do so.

A discussion was had between Members and the Applicant about various questions around access, and some concerns about disabled access. The Applicant expressed a willingness to consider the points that Members had made and be extra-attentive where necessary. He would also happily accept any further conditions of licence which the panel wished to add around the issue of access. He did note, however, that so far he had had few issues with access and that he rented the premise so some modifications were outside of his control.

In response to a question from a Member, the Applicant clarified that he intended to remain primarily an eating establishment, but one which served some alcohol with meals if the licence was granted.

Councillor D Bigby presented a representation on behalf of Ashby Town Council. He advised the panel that the additional papers circulated showed sharply increasing crime rates, particularly around drug abuse, public-order offences, anti-social behaviour, and burglary offences. This is the context in which the representation had been made. Given this context, it had previously been stated in the District Council’s Cumulative Impact Policy that granting further premise licences in Ashby Town Centre would be inconsistent with licencing objectives. He noted that nevertheless Ashby Town Council had not simply objected to all new licences. He also had concerns around this particular application with access, a nearby gym being frequently populated with children, and nuisance to residents from noise pollution. In conclusion, the location in the centre of the Cumulative Impact Zone meant it was likely to contribute to preexisting issues. He also requested some additional conditions if, contrary to his wishes, the licence was granted.

The Applicant disputed a couple of Councillor Bigby’s claims. He said no residents had indicated to him any concerns with noise; he also advised that he was in regular contact with the owner of the nearby gym and Councillor Bigby was slightly  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.