STATUTORY LICENSING-SUB COMMITTEE
Minutes of a meeting held on 22nd March, 2017.
Present: Councillors E. Hacker, Mrs. V.M. Hartrey and Mrs. M.R. Wilkinson.
Also present: Licensing Officer (Vale of Glamorgan Council) and Environmental Health Officer (Vale of Glamorgan Council).
The Scrutiny Support Officer advised of the procedure to be used for the hearing and that copies of the procedure were included within the agenda papers if required.
(a) Appointment of Chairman -
Councillor Mrs. M.R. Wilkinson was elected Chairman for the duration of the hearing.
(b) Declarations of Interest -
No declarations were received.
(c) Temporary Event Notice: Bluebell Meadow, Llancarfan - Sections 104 Objection Notices -
The Chairman welcomed those present to the Sub-Committee hearing and invited each person to introduce themselves. She asked if all parties had made written representations and was advised that they had. The Chairman invited the Licensing Officer to outline her report.
The Licensing Officer passed on apologies from P.C. Young (South Wales Police) and in presenting the report, advised that the Licensing Authority had regard to the four Licensing Objectives. The Objectives were:
- The prevention of crime and disorder
- Public safety
- The prevention of public nuisance
- The protection of children from harm.
On 9th March, 2017 the Licensing Authority received a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) from Ms. A. Nichols (the premises user) in respect of an open pasture field in Llancarfan, Vale of Glamorgan, CF62 3AD. The Officer described the site as approximately 6.6 acres of flat pasture land with water on site and vehicle access.
The event was requested by the Applicant as a live music event with a marquee, food, alcohol, trade stands, food stalls and a bouncy castle supported by a local charity. The music type was described as acoustic music, rock music and blues.
The licensable activities set out in the notice were the sale by retail of alcohol and the provision of regulated entertainment to take place on Saturday, 29th July, 2017 between 12:30 hours and 20:00 hours. The maximum number of persons to attend was 499.
The premises user served a copy of the Temporary Event Notice via email on 14th March, 2017 on South Wales Police and the Shared Regulatory Services and both agencies had served objection notices in relation to the Temporary Event Notice to the Licensing Authority. A copy of the Objection Notices had been served on the premises user by email. That was also followed up by a phone call when the premises user advised that she had received the Objection Notice. The Officer drew the Committee’s attention to the Objection Notices at Appendix A of the Licensing Officer’s report.
The Officer also advised that it was possible for the premises user and the South Wales Police and Environmental Health Team to enter into a period of discussion regarding the objections raised and that Section 106 of the Act enabled modification of the Temporary Event Notice with the agreement of all parties.
The Licensing Authority had not been notified that the parties had reached agreement and therefore a hearing was required to consider the points raised in the Objection Notices and to make a determination on the Temporary Event Notice. Having considered the Objection Notices, the Sub-Committee had the following options:
- Allow the licensable activities to go ahead as stated in the Temporary Event Notice;
- If the TEN is in connection with licensed premises, the Licensing Authority may also impose one or more of the existing licensed conditions on the TEN, insofar as such conditions are not inconsistent with the event if it considers that this is appropriate for the promotion of the Licensing Objectives;
- If it considers that the event would undermine the Licensing Objectives and should not take place, give a counter notice.
In the Applicant’s absence, the Chairman invited the Environmental Health Officer to make her representation based on the Objection Notice..
The Officer apologised for the late submission of the supplementary document supplied to the Committee just prior to the start of the hearing and confirmed that the applicant had received a copy of same prior to the meeting. The document contained information relating to the historical context of the event and its location as well as previous correspondence between the Environmental Health Officer and the TEN Applicant.
The Officer advised the Committee that prior to the application being made in March 2015 (for an event held in April 2015) there had been no event applications made for the location or by the Applicant in question.
Between the time of the March 2015 application being received and the actual event in April 2015 the Applicant had made a second application for an evening event in May 2015 to host a wedding reception. Both events took place and no objections were made by the relevant authorities to the May event as the April event had not taken place at the time of the May application.
Before the event in April 2015 there were significant complaints on social media about the impending event which led to officers attending the event.
During the last day time event held on 25th April, 2015 there were stated to be a total of 27 complaints regarding noise and nuisance behaviour from local residents. Environmental Health Officers attended the event to monitor its impact. Some residents were reported to be very unhappy with the event taking place.
The Officer advised that she had attended the site twice during the course of the event, to monitor any nuisance and it was her standard practice to visit the nearest residential property to observe the impact of events from within the property boundaries. In this case, the Officer stated that it was not appropriate to do so due to prior conflict between the Applicant and the resident and the risk of the conflict escalating following her visit.
In her professional opinion, she felt the 2015 event was a public nuisance and she had concerns that if the instant application were approved then the response from local residents was expected to be the same.
The Chairman asked whether the Panel Members had any points of clarification they wished to raise with the Environmental Health Officer.
A Member asked how close private homes were to the site and therefore the closest neighbours.
The Officer advised that she did not have exact distances however, the main village was approximately ½ a mile away from the site with some immediate neighbours separated by a narrow lane. The villagers were adamant that the music (in 2015) was noisy and could be heard from the village however, during her visit in bad weather it was not possible to hear music whilst in the village.
The Legal Officer queried if a decibel reading had been taken at the time of her visit.
The Officer advised that several decibel readings were taken and the situation was such that she could have served an Abatement Notice but chose not to, issuing a warning instead, a copy of which was in the supplementary document at Appendix 6.
The Chairman advised that a written representation had been received from P.C. Young in the form of an Objection Notice and it had been considered by the Sub-Committee in the Officer’s absence.
With no further questions or points to summarise, the Licensing Sub-Committee retired to consider the application in private.
On return, the Chairman advised that the application was for the grant of a Temporary Event Notice at Bluebell Meadow, Llancarfan on Saturday, 29th July, 2017 for a maximum of 499 persons. The application sought the sale of alcohol and regulated entertainment during the following hours:
Sale of Alcohol
12:30 hours - 20:00 hours
Regulated Entertainment
12:30 hours - 20:00 hours.
She advised that objections had been received from Environmental Health and the South Wales Police.
In delivering the decision of the Committee, the Chairman summarised the representations presented by all parties at the hearing:
Licensing Authority
The Licensing Authority had no further representations to make other than those already contained within the officers report.
Environmental Health
The Environmental Health Officer provided a supplementary document to the Committee that highlighted the disruption caused to local residents, by a similar event and hosted by the same Applicant in 2015. The Officer apprised the Committee of the site surroundings, the proximity to private homes and her experience of the disruption caused in 2015.
South Wales Police
A written objection and apologies from P.C. Young were considered by the Committee in the Officer’s absence.
Applicant/Applicant’s Representative
In the Applicant’s absence, the nature of the requested event was considered by the Committee through the description of the Temporary Event Notice contained within the Licensing Officer’s report.
The Chairman advised that following consideration of the Temporary Event Notice application and the objections of the Responsible Authorities and having regard to the Statutory Guidance issued by the Home Office under Section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003 (Section 7), and also taking into account the Licensing Act 2003 as amended, in particular the Licensing Objectives, the Licensing Sub Committee had
RESOLVED - T H A T the Temporary Event Notice application be rejected and the requisite Counter Notice be served.
Reasons for decision
The Committee considered that the event would undermine the Licensing Objective of the Prevention of Public Nuisance and that refusal would serve the Objective of the Prevention of Crime and Disorder.
In the absence of the Applicant it had not been possible to allay the concerns expressed by the police in relation to likely noise and nuisance behaviour based on the experience of like events in the same location and the concerns expressed by the Environmental Health Officer again in relation to noise nuisance affecting adjacent properties based on experience of like events.
The Chairman further advised that the Applicant had the right to appeal against the decision of the Committee. The Appeal must be made in writing and within 21 days to the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Magistrates Court. If in any doubt as to their legal rights and/or responsibilities the Applicant should take independent legal advice.