Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business.  (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear.  New items will be dealt with at item 7 below).

There were no new items of urgent business.

A member with a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered must disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest at he commencement of that consideration, or when the interest becomes apparent.

A member with a personal interest in a matter also has a prejudicial interest in that matter if the interest is one which a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the member’s judgement of the public interest and if this interest affects their financial position or the financial position of a person or body as described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct and/or if it relates to the determining of any approval, consent, licence, permission or registration in relation to them or any person or body described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting of the Licensing Sub Committee B held on 3 March 2009.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Sub Committee B held on 3 March be approved.

The Chair will explain the procedure that the Committee will follow for the hearing considered under the Gambling Act 2005 or the Licensing Act 2003.  A copy of the procedure is attached.

NOTED.

To consider an application for the variation of a premises licence at the above premises.

In response to late documentation submitted by the applicant, it was agreed that there was insufficient time for the Committee to fully read the documentation and the parties were requested to highlight the relevant issues from the document in their oral submissions.

The Licensing Officer, Ms Dale Barrett, presented the application for variation of a premises licence for conversion to a night club. It was reported that the name of the premises, previously known as Anasa, was now to be Cucci. Representation on the application had been received from the Police, the Noise Team and from a local resident, expressing concerns relating to loud music, crime and disorder and anti-social behaviour.

The Police addressed the Committee in respect of the written submission included in the papers for the meeting. It was reported that since the premises had been trading as a restaurant, the premises had not been a cause for concern, but that the application to operate as a night club was likely to lead to the same problems with crime and disorder as had been experienced in the past. In response to a question from the Committee, it was reported that the ownership of the premises had not changed. The Police clarified that the premises had not caused any problems while trading as a restaurant, but that the Police objected to the premises operating as a nightclub. The Police responded to questions from the applicant’s representative in relation to the nature of the emergency calls received, the expectation of calls in relation to a single premises and the impact this had on Police resources.

The Committee adjourned from 20:15hrs and reconvened at 20:30hrs. The legal officer advised the Committee that, as this hearing was in relation to a new application, the historic evidence submitted should not be considered in excessive detail.

In response to further questions from the applicant’s representative, the Police reported that some of the emergency calls logged could have related to the same incidents, and that they did not have data available at the hearing on the number of emergency calls in relation to the premises that had led to prosecution. The Police responded to further questions from the applicant’s representative regarding the way in which calls were logged. In response to a question from the applicant’s representative regarding the proposed condition that all promoters operating at the club be approved by the Police in advance, the Police responded that this would not allay all of their concerns in respect of the way in which the premises would be operated, based on previous experience of the way in which the premises had been run in the past.

The applicant’s representative referred the Police to the detailed documentation tabled, in response to which the Chair advised that the Committee had not had time to consider the documentation in detail. The applicant’s representative stated that the documentation set out in detail the way in which the premises would be run, and that this would address the concenrs raised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

To consider any new items admitted under item 2 above.

There were no new items of urgent business.