Agenda item

PREMISES:   Ibstock Town Cricket and Social Club, Ibstock, Leicestershire

APPLICANT:Mr Jason Lingard

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

Representations have been received from 8 interested parties.  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 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 be ten minutes.

The Licensing Team Leader presented the report. He advised Members that the suggested conditions from Environmental Health and Environmental Protection as detailed in the report at appendices 4 and 5 had been accepted.

There were no questions to the Licensing Team Leader.

Mr J Lingard, applicant, addressed the Committee. He advised Members that the cricket club had been established for over 100 years and had an excellent reputation within the village as being a family friendly club. He stated that the club played host to 11 different charities and that the club had been approached by the Royal British Legion to hold an event to mark the 100 year centenary to raise funds. He informed the Committee that it was the intention of the club to use professional companies in relation to security, car parking and noise management and that before submitting the application had met with a police officer who was used to dealing with events to discuss and walk through the event and possible attendance numbers. In relation to the concerns that had been raised over parking he advised Members that it was proposed to use other locations in and around the village for parking therefore encouraging visitors to walk to the site and any site used outside the village, talks had been held with a local bus company to shuttle visitors to and from the site. He highlighted that tickets and parking would be sold on-line only allowing staff to keep on top of numbers. In relation to noise control he informed the Committee that the company providing the sound system for the event would provide a member of staff to monitor the noise on the neighbouring estates and should the noise exceed the level they would be to remedy the issue on the spot. He confirmed that the club was happy with the conditions put forward by Environmental Health and Environmental Protection, that the club only intended to hold one event per year and would not do anything to put the reputation of the club in jeopardy and therefore would do whatever it took to mitigate any impact on the neighbours.

Mr M Davenport, on behalf of the Royal British Legion, addressed the Committee. He advised the Members that the Royal British Legion was self-funding and the proposed concert was away for the charity to raise additional funds to be distributed with in the area.

In response to questions from Members, the applicants advised that

-       they would be happy to accept a condition that limited the number of events to one a year,

-       by using the professional company for the sound they would be able to reduce the sound level as required and that the music would stop at 10.30pm,

-       a number of locations including Cattows, the local schools and Strawberry Villas had given permission for their land to be used as car parks,

-       it was hoped that the event would draw the local community and therefore most people would walk to the event,

-       weather monitoring would take place and that they would take out event insurance so that should it be cancelled refunds could be given.

In response to questions from the interested parties the applicants advised that     

-       They had guarantees from the various locations that they would be able to use the land for off-site parking rather than at the club grounds but they wished to encourage locals to walk to the event.

-       They had taken advice from a number of sources including the events officer from the police on the maximum number of attendees that could held on site and that there would be various areas cordoned off for different activities. 3,000 had been reached as the maximum number and would be used for insurance purposes.

In response to questions from the interested parties, the Licensing Team Leader stated that the authority had not received any representations from the Police or Fire Authorities in relation to the license and the number of attendees. He also advised Members that as a license had not yet been granted there was no requirement for risk or fire assessments to be provided to the relevant service for the application before them.

The Legal Advisor stated that the application before them was for the license not to hold the event. Once the license had been granted then there would be a requirement for any plans or assessments in relation to an event to be submitted.

Mr P Depper, interested party, addressed the Committee. He advised that his main concern was the noise disruption. He felt that the location was not acceptable as it was in the middle of the village and that there were several other locations on the outskirts that were more suitable. He informed Members that the website was up and running and it appeared that tickets had been sold already. He also stated that many residents were unaware of the application and that the notices had been very low key.

The Licensing Team Leader advised that the applicant had complied with all the statutory requirements in relation to the publication of the notices.

Mr J Bonser, interested party, addressed the Committee. He stated that nobody was opposed to an event in aid of the Royal British Legion however it was worrying that tickets were already being sold before the license was granted. He advised Members that it appeared that the club was not adhering to its current license and therefore it could not be guaranteed that it would not adhere to the new one should it be granted. He expressed concerns over public safety as there was insufficient means for 3,500 people to access the site and should there be a need to evacuate the site the narrow drive would make it difficult for the fire appliance to enter. He also highlighted that the main road that the club was accessed off was already congested with very little parking available and the additional cars would put more pressure on the highway.

In response to a question from Councillor D Everitt, the applicant advised that the refuse lorry could get down the narrow driveway leading to the club, therefore a fire appliance would manage, and that there were double gates that lead on to the ground from the school that could be used in an emergency.  

Both the applicant and the interested parties gave a brief closing statement reiterating the points made earlier in the meeting.

At 19.39pm the Sub Committee adjourned to consider its decision. The Sub Committee reconvened at 20.17pm.

RESOLVED THAT:

The Premises Licence was granted with the following conditions imposed:-

1. The premises are permitted to hold one licensable activity/event with an occupancy of over 499 people per year

2. A traffic management plan shall be submitted to the Licensing Authority 28 days prior to the first day of any event where more than 499 people are expected to attend. The traffic management plan shall include details of the parking provisions for the event.

3. An event management plan covering health, safety and welfare and risk assessments will be submitted for approval to the Licensing Authority 28 days prior to the first day of any event where more than 499 people are expected to attend.

4. 28 days prior to the first day of any event where more than 499 people are expected to attend the event organiser will submit for approval to the Licensing Authority a noise mitigation plan. The plan should detail all steps to be taken to prevent public nuisance to surrounding neighbouring properties from noise. It should also include noise monitoring locations along with contact details for the day of the event should any complaints be received whilst the event is ongoing.

5. The noise monitoring will be carefully monitored and linked to the controls enabling any noise problems to be dealt with immediately.