Agenda and minutes

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

Apologies were received from Councillors Praful Nargund and Valerie Bossman-Quarshie.

Councillor Phil Graham substituted for Councillor Valerie Bossman-Quarshie and Councillor Ben Mackmurdie substituted for Councillor Praful Nargund.

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 the 19 September 2023 be confirmed as a correct record and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

The licensing officer reported that four local residents would be speaking, and the planning officer was also present to respond to questions. A statement from the applicant had been circulated separately.

The planning officer reported that the proposed use for the premises complied with Class E.  If the premises had use of the air conditioning unit this would need to be switched off at 6 or 7 pm depending on the relevant condition.

The residents stated that there had been no change since the previous application. This was a quiet residential street and adjoining streets, Upper Street and Essex Road, were perfect for licensed premises. The applicant had arranged a meeting with residents with only two days’ notice. The applicant promised not to open the rear door and the room was very hot. Test nights had been held but it was cold and wet and there had not been many customers. There had been a private party for staff and doors were open at the front and noise could be heard by residents. Smokers would also gather outside the premises. Another resident stated that the area was ill suited to an influx of drinkers who did not have any connection with the area and noise would increase with the drinking of alcohol. There would also be parking issues as there were not enough parking spaces. There were concerns about how the applicant would ventilate the premises without being able to open the windows and doors. There would be outdoor tables on a narrow pavement. The A boards had already been found to encroach on the pavements and it was considered that outdoor seating should not be agreed, and hours of operation limited to those limited by planning. It was stated that during the test events the air conditioning was turned on at 6.45 pm. One resident stated that you could hear the noise from all around the building due to the way it was built. People outside would not be possible to control, and customers could cause problems when they left the premises.

In response to questions, it was noted that noise from two public houses were away from the area and this particular locality was very quiet. The residents were concerned about noise escape if doors were open at the rear of the premises. Residents queried how customers at tables seated outside the premises could be served if doors were not allowed to be opened.  The planning officer advised that they had no evidence of a breach of planning use but stated that there was a live ongoing investigation. The licensing officer reported that there had been no complaints from the temporary events and the licensing team had also carried out regular monitoring of the premises.

The applicant’s representative stated that this was an application with modest hours, less than framework hours detailed in the licensing policy. The application detailed a comprehensive set of conditions which included CCTV, incident logs, training, keeping doors and windows closed and keeping the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

The Licensing Officer reported that the address was 20, 22 and 23, The Ivories. The opening hours were from 6am. A summary from the applicant’s representative had been circulated separately.

The planning officer stated that the proposed use was not considered to be Class E and was therefore not considered a lawful use. The applicant’s representative reminded the Sub-Committee that this was not a planning hearing. He stated that advice had been sought and it was considered to be Class E as this was an office/ workspace and events were ancillary. He considered that the planning team had based their decision on a misunderstanding of the business from draft information on a website. He would be happy to liaise with the planning officers about this. The planning officer reiterated that the submitted proposed use was not considered to be within Class E but clarified that, should a use come forward that was within Class E, then there was no legal requirement for a certificate of lawful development.

The interested parties stated that the applicants had identified a location based on low rental and business rates and had not focussed on residents. Details regarding sound insulation had not been provided when requested. They raised concerns about the heat recovery units which required external grills and whether planning permission had been sought for these. Occupancy numbers were about 120 people so the premises would be very heavily occupied. The residents raised concerns that a premises licence holder would only be available from 7pm, they asked how the applicant would limit and control smokers outside, the use of the rear exit doors and the times for refuse collection.  The local Ward Councillor stated that she agreed with the comments residents had made. She did not consider the application to be neighbourhood focussed. She had been unaware of the meeting set up for residents which she would have attended. She said that this was a quiet area and was not a suitable site for this premises. She considered that the premises could be extended in the future to become a nightclub. There was an external walkway and customers would walk up and down this area up until midnight. A further resident stated that she did not consider that this was a serious co-working space. Hours were not workspace hours. She stated there had been no consultation with this application. The opening hours and the sale of alcohol hours were well beyond the hours set by the planning condition which limited the operating hours of the air conditioning unit.

The applicant’s representative stated that this was not a nightclub and not intended to be so, even with the later hours. It was to create a community of work, wellness and socialising and users would come to the venue to take classes and socialise. The space was not open to the general public and users would be a 15-20 minute walk or cycle away. Alcohol was only provided to users and their guests. The hours had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 69.