i. Items raised by Muswell Hill & Fortis Green Association
· The committees recommendations to the Board on consultation and disclosure regarding the terms of the ongoing negotiations with Firoka, and the terms eventually agreed;
· The Board’s response to any recommendation made by the Committee should not be a simple “noted, as in the past, but indicate whether the Board accepted or declined to accept the Committee’s recommendation and their reasoning in the case of a rejection.
ii. Items raised by Warner Estate Residents Association
· Application made for a permanent gambling licence for track betting in the Panorama Room.
· Traffic arrangements for Fireworks night 2007
Minutes:
i. Items raised by Muswell Hill & Fortis Green Association
· The Committee being consulted and disclosure being given to the Committee of the terms of the ongoing negotiations with Firoka, and the terms eventually agreed;
· The Board’s response to recommendations of the Committee should not be simply “noted”, as in the past, but the Board should explain their reasoning in the case of rejecting the Committee’s recommendations.
Ms Myers commented (and the Chair concurred) that the issues raised by the Association had been dealt with earlier in the meeting.
NOTED
ii. Items raised by Warner Estate Residents Association
· Application made for a permanent gambling licence for track betting in the Panorama Room.
· Traffic arrangements for Fireworks night 2007
In response to questions from Harry Aspden as to the application for a permanent track betting licence the General Manager emphasised that the need for the licence had been solely to accommodate the world professional darts championships and not (as had been suggested in the local press) an attempt to provide a gambling venue outside that event (or future darts events) as a whole, nor was it an attempt to keep the concept of a casino alive, nor was it the thin end of a wedge designed to soften up the public. There were no other plans to expand betting beyond the darts championships.
The General manager further commented that the Licence application was made by Trethowans Solicitors working with Ladbrokes who were the major sponsors of the event. It was submitted as a permanent licence due to the high fees that would be due each year if a permanent licence was not in place. Regrettably ,there had been some confusion over in whose name it should be processed which had been resolved in discussions with the Local Authority.
He also explained that due to the licence not being granted in time the organisers had acted under the provisions of the Gaming Act and taken out an ‘occasional’ use License for, in any one calendar year up to 10 days but, the allocation meant that the facility was not used on some days of the event in order to keep within the limits.
In response to points raised by Mr Aspden, Councillor Whyte commented that the rules and criteria governing the objection to grant of a licence were very clear and set out in statute, and the advice given by the Local Authority was correct in what could/could not be objected to. . Mr Aspden explained that it was the very fact that the objection criteria were so narrow that led him to believe that the matter should be referred to the Committee before the application was even submitted.
The Chair questioned whether it was within the remit of the Statutory Advisory Cttee to consider such applications, as it did indeed cover planning applications relating to the Palace and Park. In referring to Part III, para 19(a) of the Act, the Chair asked that advice be sought from the Council’s Head of Legal Services in this respect.
RESOLVED
i. That clarification/advice be obtained from the Council’s Head of Legal Services as to whether applications for gaming licences for the Palace and Park fall within the remit of the Statutory Advisory Committee; and
ii. In respect of concerns relating to traffic arrangements for the Fireworks’ Display of 2008, and for 2009, the Chair asked that officers report further to the Advisory Committee in June 2008.
.
NOTED
There being no further business to discuss the meeting ended at 21.40hrs.
David Liebeck
Chair