Agenda and minutes

The Panel considered the appointment of a C hairman for the meeting.

Resolved:

That Councillor L Taylor be appointed Chairman for the meeting.

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:-

(1) the type of interest concerned

(2) the nature of the interest concerned; and

(3) whether they have or have not sat on a Planning Committee which has previously considered a planning application in respect of a licensed premises which is also subject to consideration for a premises licence as part of the agenda for this meeting.

If any Member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

(Members are asked to also pay particular attention to the guidance sheet on interests supplied with the agenda).

There were no declarations of interest

The Chairman explained the procedure for the meeting and that an equal time limit of twenty minutes had been allocated for all parties.

a. APPLICATION AND REPRESENTATIONS SUBMITTED. To consider the attached report

b. DETERMINATION OF THE APPLICATION FOR A PREMISES LICENCE- Bolton News

c. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DECISION FOR A PREMISES LICENCE- Bolton News

The Licensing Panel considered an application for a new Premises Licence in respect of Bolton News, 90-92 Bolton Street. The application sought to provide sale of alcohol for consumption off the premises between 8am and 11pm daily.

The Panel noted that the representations on behalf of Weights and Measures had now been withdrawn following mediation the addition of conditions as outlined in the representation.

The applicant, Mr Puventhirarajan Nadarajah, was in attendance accompanied by his solicitor, Ms Andrea Forrest. Ms Forrest outlined the application on behalf of Mr Nadarajah and highlighted a number of key issues: the relatively small nature of the proposed sales of alcohol as a proportion of the business, that Mr Nadarajah operated two similar premises one in St Helens and one in Wigan and was an experienced operator, that the proposed Designated Premises Supervisor had a good level of experience, that there was no connection between Mr Nadarajah and the previous problematic operator of the premises and a proposed range of conditions that the applicant was prepared to have imposed on the licence if granted.

PC Lisa Evans, Lancashire Constabulary Licensing Section assisted by PC Natali Harper, Community Beat Manager for Bloomfield outlined the objection by the Police to this application. They highlighted the high levels of crime and disorder within Bloomfield ward. They also outlined the problems that had existed when the premises were previously licensed before that licence was revoked, the Police acknowledged that this was a different operator with a high level of experience but outlined their view that the challenges that the area suffered from remained.

Mr Mark Marshall, Licensing and Health and Safety Manager- Blackpool Council outlined representations on behalf of the Licensing Authority, Health and Safety and Public Health. He outlined that the premises were now generally compliant with the issues identified by Health and Safety. He emphasised on behalf of the Licensing Authority and Public Health that the application was within the Off-Licence Saturation Policy zone and not withstanding the experience of the operator there were already significant challenges in the area.

The Panel considered carefully the evidence submitted by all parties and noted that the application was within the Off-Licence Saturation Policy zone. The Panel noted that this policy created a rebuttable presumption against the granting of further licences within this area due to the high levels of crime and disorder already being experienced in this area.

The Panel considered that in this case while the applicant represented an improvement on the previous operator of the premises, he had not satisfied the Panel that the granting of the application would not add to the levels of crime and disorder.

Resolved:

That the application for a Premises Licence for Bolton News be refused.