STATUTORY LICENSING-SUB COMMITTEE
Minutes of a meeting held on 2nd July, 2018.
Present: Councillors R. Crowley, K.P. Mahoney and Mrs. J.M. Norman.
Also present: Mr. D. Thomas (Applicant’s Representative), P.C. J. Young (South Wales Police), Licensing Officer (Vale of Glamorgan Council), Environmental Health Officer (Vale of Glamorgan Council) and Legal Officer (Vale of Glamorgan Council).
The Scrutiny Support Officer explained the procedure to be used for the hearing and advised that copies were available in the agenda.
(a) Appointment of Chairman -
Councillor K.P. Mahoney was elected Chairman for the duration of the hearing.
(b) Declarations of Interest -
No declarations were received.
(c) Licensing Act 2003 - Application for the Grant of a Premises Licence – 3 Thompson Street, Barry, CF63 4JL -
The Chairman welcomed those present to the Sub-Committee hearing and invited each person to introduce themselves. The Chairman invited the Licensing Officer to present the report, who advised that an application had been made under the Licensing Act 2003 for the grant of a premises licence at 3 Thompson Street, Barry, CF63 4JL by Mr. Anthony Gee. The application sought authorisation for the following licensable activities to be carried out at the premises:
Sale of alcohol - 08:00 hours – 00:00 hours (midnight) - 7 days a week
Late night refreshment - 23:00 hours – 00:00 hours (midnight) - 7 days a week.
The officer stated that the application was submitted on 10th May, 2018. The Operating Schedule of the application stated that it was for a Premises Licence to a bistro serving bottled beer, wine and a selection of cocktails and spirits. The full Operating Schedule and plan related to the application were attached at Appendix A to the report.
The Committee noted that on 1st June, 2018 representations were received from the South Wales Police. A copy of their representations was attached at Appendix B to the report. On 7th June, 2018 representations were received from the Shared Regulatory Services Environmental Health Team. A copy of their representations was attached at Appendix C to the report. There were no representations from Other Persons during the consultation period.
The Licensing Officer sought clarification from the Applicant’s representative as to whether the application for sale of alcohol at the premises covered the consumption of alcohol both on and off site, or only on-site; and Mr. D. Thomas confirmed that the application sought a licence for the sale and consumption of alcohol on-site only.
The Chairman invited the Applicant’s representative to present their representations in support of the application.
The Applicant’s representative, Mr. D. Thomas, apologised that Mr. A. Gee could not attend the meeting of the Licensing Sub-Committee. The Applicant’s representative stated that under the planning restrictions in place at the premises, the property was restricted in its purpose as a café / deli and was also restricted on its hours of operation. The Applicant had originally sought to make an application for the licence outside of these planning restrictions to future-proof their business, however, at this stage were happy to restrict their application for the grant of a premises licence to the hours as laid out in the planning regulations. As such, the Applicant’s representative was happy to amend the application to the sale of alcohol from 10:00 hours to 22.15 hours, Monday to Sunday and the application for late night refreshment would be withdrawn. By doing so, Mr. D. Thomas stated that he was following the police recommendations and informed the Committee that the business would be able to provide a wide-range of food and drink options from 08.00 hours until the evening.
The Applicant’s representative noted that noise concerns had been raised by the Environmental Health Department and by way of response, informed the Committee that 3 Thompson Street was a small establishment that could only fit 38 people seated so the amount of noise emanating from patrons at the site would be exceeded by the working men’s club based at a neighbouring property which was a live music venue with no designated smoking area. With regards to the provision to play live music as automatically granted by de-regulation, the premises could only hold 8 tables for customers and fitting a band onsite would lose two of those tables, so in Mr. Thomas’ opinion was not economical. Finally, Mr. Thomas informed the Committee that having a licence to sell alcohol would allow the owners of the site to have more control over the consumption of alcohol at the premises, as at the moment they provided a corkage service only which was affecting the bottom line of the business, and the licence could make the difference between success and failure.
The Applicant’s representative then clarified for the Licensing Sub-Committee that the site did not have a designated smoking area so customers were going outside to smoke, however, he would not allow any alcohol bought onsite to be consumed off-site or taken outside as he sought the licence to enhance meals served at the premises, rather than provide a bar service. He also informed the Committee of the existing opening hours and the background history of the premises, which had previously been a café which was closed for a year then refurbished and was now trying to enhance the service it provided.
The Chairman invited the South Wales Police Officer to present his representations.
P.C. J. Young stated that in light of the amendments to the application made by the Applicant’s representative, he was satisfied that all recommendations by South Wales Police were covered. The Officer was concerned that the premises could turn into another bar in an area that had a high incident rate of anti-social behaviour, informing the Committee that between January 2017 and May 2018, 1,304 incident calls had been logged in Holton Road, 149 incident calls were logged in Dunlin Court and 146 incident calls had been logged in Thompson Street. As such, this was a very busy area for South Wales Police and he had concerns that the application for the grant of a premises licence as it originally stood would have increased these incidents of anti-social behaviour, however, the amended application had allayed many of his concerns. P.C. Young then queried with the Applicant’s representative whether alcohol would be sold on draught, and what staffing arrangements would be in place during Friday and Saturday nights and if they would be given training in dealing with incidents of anti-social behaviour. In response, Mr. Thomas stated that alcohol would only be provided in bottles as the premises did not have a cellar and that three members of staff, including himself would be on-site during Friday and Saturday nights and he would ensure that they received appropriate training to handle incidents of anti-social behaviour.
The Chairman invited the Environmental Health Officer to present her representations.
The Environmental Health Officer stated that the objections raised by the Environmental Health Department focused on protecting the residential area and preventing any nuisance to the public. Due to the Applicant’s representative amending the application to reduce the hours of the licence, these concerns were allayed. The officer stated that she supported the idea that the premises was not a bar, and asked the Sub-Committee to consider adding the condition that serving alcohol should be ancillary to ordering food at the same time. The Environmental Health Officer also noted that due to deregulation, if a licence was granted for the supply of alcohol at the premises then no permission was required for live and recorded music, however, she was satisfied that due to the size of the establishment it would be difficult to host live music at the premises.
In conclusion, the Environmental Health Officer stated that the restricted hours of operation and restrictions to there being no drinking vessels outside the premises as agreed by the Applicant’s representative would reduce anti-social behaviour.
The Chairman provided all parties with the opportunity to sum up or add to their representations. The Applicant’s representative stated that the granting of a premises licence to 3 Thompson Street, Barry would make a massive difference to the success of the small business.
Subsequently, the Licensing Sub-Committee retired to consider the application in private.
On returning, the Chairman confirmed that the application was for the grant of a premises licence at 3 Thompson Street, Barry, CF63 4JL. The application was originally for the grant of a premises licence for the sale of alcohol from 08:00 hours to 00:00 hours (midnight) and late night refreshment 23:00 hours to 00:00 (midnight), 7 days a week. Due to deregulation, if the premises licence was granted, no licence permission was required for live and recorded music during these hours.
In delivering the decision of the Sub-Committee the Chairman summarised the representations received by all parties at the hearing:
Licensing Authority -
The Licensing Authority had no further representations to make other than those already contained within the officer’s report with the clarification sought from the Applicant’s representative on the confirmation that alcohol was for on-sale only.
Applicant -
The Applicant’s representative amended the application to:
- Sale of alcohol: 10:00 hours - 22:15 hours - Monday to Sunday.
- The application for late night refreshment was withdrawn.
South Wales Police -
P.C. J. Young was satisfied that the Applicant had addressed the concerns of the South Wales Police due to the amended application hours, and he informed the Licensing Sub-Committee of the crime statistics for the area.
Environmental Health -
The Environmental Health Officer was satisfied that the Applicant had addressed the concerns raised by the Environmental Health Department due to the amended application hours.
The Chairman advised that following consideration of the amended application, the representations from South Wales Police, the Local Authority’s Environmental Health Department, and having considered the Home Office Guidance along with the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy also taking into account the Licensing Act 2003 (as amended), the Licensing Objectives the Licensing Sub-Committee
RESOLVED - T H A T the amended application be granted and conditions modified that were consistent with the Operating Schedule in a way that was considered appropriate for the promotion of the Licensing Objectives. Those conditions would include the following:
- No alcohol to be consumed outside the premises.
Reason for decision
The Licensing Sub-Committee, in granting the application, had considered the application along with all written and oral submissions. The Licensing Sub-Committee had taken into account the Licensing Act 2003 (as amended), in particular the Licensing Objectives and the Home Office Guidance, along with the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy, and was satisfied that the amended application met all Licensing Objectives.
The Licensing Sub-Committee advised the Applicant’s representative that he had a right of appeal against the decision of the Sub-Committee. This had to be made in writing within 21 days to the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Magistrates Court. Should the Applicant be in any doubt as to their legal rights and social responsibilities they should take independent legal advice.