Agenda and minutes

Councillor Nick Wayne 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 Councillors Poyser and Khurana.

Councillor Phil Graham substituted for Councillor Dave Poyser and Councillor Marian Spall substituted for Councillor Anjna Khurana.

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 25 January 2022 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

The Sub-Committee noted that this item had been adjourned to the meeting on the 7 April 2022.

The licensing officer introduced the applicant, his representative and the responsible authorities. He reported that since the application had been submitted the hours had been revised and a revised layout plan had been submitted. A planning consent had been circulated from the applicant. The Chair noted that the consent was dated 8 July 2021. The licensing officer reported that this outlined the permission for the barber shop and restaurant however, the issue regarding the temporary structure remained.

The Police stated that the applicant had submitted an alcohol application for the barber shop in August 2020. The police had visited in December 2020, during lockdown, and found four males smoking shisha at the rear of the premises. During a visit in January 2022, males were again found to be smoking shisha at the rear in an enclosed space. He stated that he had severe reservations in the granting of a licence. He had no confidence that the applicant would adhere to any of the conditions and he objected to the grant of the application.

The Licensing Authority stated that a penalty notice had been served on the applicant and the Sub-Committee would need to give consideration as to whether or not the applicant could comply with conditions and manage the premises lawfully in an area with a number of outlets. There were issues with Planning regarding the outside structure and a notice would be served. The hours proposed were within policy hours but there must be confidence in the ability of the applicant to manage the premises lawfully.

The Trading Standards officer stated that there had been an incident during December 2020 whilst the Coronavirus regulations were in force and businesses were not permitted to open. The service had received information that the business was open. Upon attending, officers could see at the rear of the building a semi-permanent structure which was enclosed and males smoking what appeared to be shisha. A fine was issued under the Covid Regulations and had been paid. Smoking indoors could have been punished in any event under the Health Act. The Sub-Committee needed to be sure that this was a responsible business.

In response to questions, the police stated that January 2022 was the second time that people had been found to be smoking in the rear premises. This was a very busy area which was saturated with bars and pubs. If the applicant could not comply he could not see how he could be trusted with an alcohol licence.  He had zero confidence in the applicant and the premises would be difficult to police. The Sub-Committee noted that the premises was in a cumulative impact area.

The applicant’s representative stated that the applicant had accepted that he had received a fixed penalty notice. This application had been revised from the original application and only applied to the middle area of the premises, which was the restaurant area. He had been given the fixed penalty two years ago. They expected to have a lot of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 174.

The licensing officer reported that, as a result of discussions with the applicants and the residents, amended conditions 16 and 30 had been circulated.

One local resident stated that he did not object to the application but raised concerns regarding the extractors as there had been problems from other restaurants in the area and he would have concerns if this applicant moved away. It was understood that any extractor equipment would need a separate planning application and they would have an interest in ensuring that any system was compliant. He considered that the applicant would be an asset to the area and thanked the licensing officer in his work with the applicant and the residents. A second resident stated that she would reiterate support for the applicant and would be pleased if there was additional oversight if any external extractors were part of a separately planning process and would like confirmation that this would be the case. Residents would want the ability to control the external extractor units in the future.

The licensing officer informed that if proposed condition 30 was inserted onto the licence any breach could be enforced should the licence holder use gas appliances, burners or deep fat fryers. The legal officer advised that the licensing officer could check whether or not this condition was being complied with and a review application made or prosecution if necessary. Any noise or odour issues could be investigated by Environmental Health and planning enforcement could take action regarding external structures.

One applicant, who stated he trained as a butcher and specialised in French charcuterie was working with two wine importers. He supported organic farms and he hoped to address the concerns of residents. They did not intend to use external extraction. The two directors had over twenty years’ experience between them working front of house. They had seen how extraction systems should be installed using recirculating air. They wished to have as little impact outside the building and they knew how frustrating it was having odours from cooking in flats. They wished to run a successful business and hoped that that this would be a venue for local residents in the area. They understood their responsibility on local residents and the authorities. They had a small walk in fridge. There was a courtyard outside and the external until would be in the basement level of the floor. They would use air conditioning only when absolutely necessary and not 24 hours. They understood the cumulative impact of another extractor unit at the rear. They had no plans to use the old ventilation system and would remove it.

In response to questions, it was noted that wines were shipped into a bonded warehouse. They would not be delivering food from the bar.  One applicant stated that he delivered 15 boxes on a Friday morning but this was fifteen minutes from the shop and there was no intention to change this. The applicants’ agreed to additional conditions regarding the use of non-motorised vehicles  ...  view the full minutes text for item 175.

The Chair stated that this was his last meeting before the election and thanked officers for their work over the past four years. Officers and members also thanked the Chair for his services to the Sub-Committee.