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Agenda Item No.

LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE

MINUTES of a meeting held on 30^th November, 2006.

Present: Councillors Miss J. Cole, Mrs. V.M. Hartrey and A.J. Readman.

Also present: Environmental Health Officer and Licensing Officer.

(a) Appointment of Chairman -

Councillor A.J. Readman was elected Chairman for the meeting.

(b) Declarations of Interest -

No declarations were received.

The Licensing Officer confirmed that the application for a Premises Licence to allow the provision of Regulated Entertainment, the provision of entertainment facilities and late night refreshment under the Licensing Act 2003 had been granted following the successful mediation between the parties concerned.

(d) Licensing Act 2003 - Premises Licence - Albion Hotel, 28 Glebe Street, Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan -

Also present: Ms. C. Paulakis (Applicant), Mr. A. Evans (representing the Applicant), Mr. & Mrs. Starling (Interested Parties).

Consideration was given to a request to:

- Vary the Premises Licence to extend the hours for the supply of alcohol for an additional half an hour Monday to Wednesday until 23:30 hours and by an additional hour on Thursday until 12 midnight.

- Extend the hours for Regulated Entertainment, namely live music, recorded music, dancing and karaoke by an additional half an hour on Thursday until 23:00 hours.

Mr. Evans, in support of the application, stated

- The application represented a modest extension to what was currently permitted;

- The applications had been made in response to the wishes of the clientele;

- The Applicant was heartened by the fact that, since the application had been re-advertised, only one additional letter of objection had been received;

- The letters of representation received were all related to noise or anti-social behaviour outside the premises;

- Signs had been erected within the premises asking patrons to leave quietly at night;

- It was the Applicant’s belief that noise problems would not be exacerbated as a result of the requested operating hours;

- The Applicant would be willing to erect a sign outside the premises requesting patrons to desist from making noise;

- In the past, internal doors had been left open, to prevent them from slamming. Door closers had now been fitted, thus maintaining a “lobby” effect;

- The front doors had been left open in the hot weather. It was accepted that this should not happen, and the Applicant would accept a condition to the licence being applied to the effect that the doors must be kept closed at all times;

- The location within the premises at which live music was performed had been moved to a location where, it was hoped, the situation would be more beneficial to the neighbouring properties;

- The volume of the juke box had been reduced when it had been appreciated that the noise was audible in the adjoining property;

- The landlady hailed from a musical family, and it had been their practice to play music together every other week. It was now appreciated that the noise caused a nuisance and the practice had now ceased.

Ms. Paulakis stated that she had been under the impression that the hours now being applied for had been granted by the Licensing Sub-Committee last year. She now realised that this was not the case and was seeking to restore the former hours.

In response, Mr. Starling stated:

· since the application had been made, noise nuisance problems had improved dramatically;

· that he appreciated that the landlady had no control over the activities of patrons standing outside the premises;

· the premises had been built some 100 years ago, with little regard to noise nuisance emanating from within the building;

· that he would like to see air conditioning installed to prevent the need for the windows being kept open in the hot weather.

Mr. Evans asked Mr. Starling if he would be reassured by the following:

· windows to be kept locked when light music was played;

· the door to the lobby being kept closed;

· the erection of a sign outside the premises requesting patrons to keep the noise levels down.

Mr. Starling said that he would be prepared to accept the first two suggestions, in particular the door to the lobby being kept closed.

In summing up, Mr. Evans expressed concern at suggestions that air conditioning may be required of the Albion Hotel. The cost of such equipment would, he claimed, be prohibitive.

Mr. Evans stated that it had been demonstrated that improvements had been made in the way that the Albion Hotel had been run, and that his client would be willing to accept a condition of the licence to the effect that the windows be closed after a given time (a time of 23:00 hours was suggested).

It was pointed out to the Applicant that this was already a condition of the licence and that the condition was not being complied with.

Members of the Sub-Committee then considered the matter in private.

Sub-Committee decision -

The Chairman informed the meeting that having considered the application and representations by the Environmental Health Department and Interested Parties and having considered the DCMS Guidance, the Objectives of the Licensing Act 2003 and the Council’s Statement of the Licensing Policy, the Sub-Committee had

RESOLVED - T H A T the application be granted, save for the following alterations, and subject to the following conditions:

The hours granted as follows:

Sale of alcohol: Monday - Thursday	10:00 hours - 23:00 hours
Friday and Saturday	10:00 hours - 24:00 hours
Sunday	11:00 hours - 23:00 hours
Regulated Entertainment: Monday - Wednesday	10:00 hours - 22:30 hours
Thursday - Saturday	10:00 hours - 23:00 hours
Sunday	11:00 hours - 22:30 hours

and the following conditions:

· The conditions set out in the Applicant’s Operating Schedule;

· The side entrance lobby shall revert to its original use as an entry to the flat save for the use as an emergency fire exit for the Licensed Premises;

· A sign should be displayed on the external door to the effect that this was for fire exit only.

Reason for decision

The Sub-Committee in arriving at its decision, took the following into account:

The Sub-Committee was satisfied that there was evidence of public nuisance associated with noise emanating from the premises. The Sub-Committee was therefore of the opinion that any further extensions would lead to an increase in public nuisance.