Agenda and draft minutes

Councillor Angelo Weekes welcomed everyone to the meeting and officers and members introduced themselves. The procedure for the conduct of the meeting was outlined.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Shaikh.

Councillor Graham substituted for Councillor Shaikh.

If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

§  if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

§  you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

*(a)Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

(b) Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

(c) Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between you or your partner (or a body in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council.

(d) Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

(e) Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or longer.

(f) Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have a beneficial interest.

 (g) Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital. 

This applies to all members present at the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

The order of business would be as the agenda.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 Seotember 2024 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

The Licensing Officer provided background information on the application. It was noted that the premises already had a licence. The applicant sought for legal advice, but not from a licensing legal advisor and the applicant was advised to apply for a new licence, rather than having the Designated Premises Supervisor changed on the existing licence. There was one representation made by a resident, however the resident did not attend this meeting. The Sub-Committee was informed that the applicant had offered to meet with the resident to discuss concerns, but resident did not respond and wished to object to the application. The Sub-Committee noted that no other representations were made.

The Sub-Committee raised the issue of prominent display of the notice, the third point from the one remaining representation from a member of the public. The Licensing Officer explained that she had enquired into this and officer informed her that further notices had been displayed around the building. The requirements of the regulations had been met and the Sub-Committee could proceed to hear the application.

The applicant presented his key points and stated that the premises was operated as a restaurant and was experienced in this industry as he managed five other restaurants. The Sub-Committee noted that around 60% of the revenue generated was through the sale of alcohol. The applicant added that in terms of drinking, the focus of the venue was drinking while dining and not drinking and partying. It was noted that the premises provided early morning breakfast, lunch and dinner with mostly seated drinks being served throughout the day. The premises played low level music and followed high standards as the premises was a 4-star hotel. The applicant highlighted that he had taken objections into consideration and did not intend to cause any trouble as it would be counterproductive.

The Sub-Committee queried about the high standards mentioned and how they were being enforced. In response, the applicant advised that the venue followed the standards you would expect at a 4-star hotel, and provided examples including no loud music, no heavy drinking and no football related gatherings. It was added that there was a natural enforcement of these standards as this was what would be expected at any hotel with the same star rating.

In response to a question regarding core hours of the business, the applicant stated that the sale of alcohol from 7am was for guests enjoying a drink with their breakfast and was not aimed at walk-in customers who wanted drinks only. In order to ensure the licensable activity was for guests alone, the Sub-Committee proposed an additional condition that between 7am-8am, only patrons of the hotel shall be able to purchase alcohol. The applicant agreed to this additional condition.

The Sub-Committee noted that in terms of the type of alcohol available, the premises offered French wine, a variety of cocktails and spirits.

In response to a question regarding seasonal events, it was noted that the seasonal events included food-led Christmas lunch and a long  ...  view the full minutes text for item 129.