Agenda item

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

b. DETERMINATION OF THE APPLICATION FOR A PREMISES LICENCE- Premier Store

c. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DECISION FOR A PREMISES LICENCE- Premier Store

The Licensing Panel considered an application for a new Premises Licence in respect of Premier Store, 190-192 Central Drive.

The applicant, Mr Francis Jeevratnam, was in attendance accompanied by his solicitor Mr Michael Woosnam. Mr Woosnam made representations by the Panel. Mr Woosnam while accepting that the premises would be within the Cumulative Impact Area for off licences, emphasised that the premises had been previously licensed without any issues until that licence had lapsed and that Mr Jeevratnam had many years of experience  working within the town centre of Blackpool including similarly located premises without issue. He referred to the circulated additional information and explained that the premises had the benefit of support of a national chain in Booker under its Premier Store brand. Mr Woosnam concluded by emphasising his view that the application should be treated as exceptional.

Pc Emma Pritchard was also in attendance and outlined objections to the application on behalf of Lancashire Constabulary. PC Pritchard reminded members of the location of the proposed premises was within in her view the most problematic part of the Cumulative Impact Area. PC Pritchard referred to the representation submitted by Lancashire Constabulary and highlighted the significant concerns of the PCSO for the area especially around street drinking  in the nearby Revoe Park and that anecdotally that the issue had reduced since the closure of the previous operation of the premises. Pc Pritchard concluded her representations by reminding the Panel that in the view of the Police that the application should be refused and if not significant meaningful conditions should be applied as outlined in the representations.

Ms Rachel Swindells was also in attendance and outlined objections to the application on behalf of the Public Health department. Ms Swindells highlighted the concerns of the Director of the Public Health as to concerns regarding alcohol related harm in the ward. There were already 24 off licensed premises in the ward which had 3 times the Blackpool average for alcohol related hospital admissions. In her view any increase in the availability of alcohol would further impact on the alcohol related harm being experienced in the area.

The Licensing Panel considered the application and concluded that in this circumstances the application that the application was exceptional and therefore should be granted. The Panel concluded this based on the high levels of experience of the applicant including within the same area, that the premises had previously been licensed without issues and that the applicant had the support of a recognised national brand as a franchisee. The Panel considered in necessary to add the following conditions

1.      CCTV will be installed internally and externally at the premises. Said CCTV system shall comply with the following criteria:

(a) The CCTV system shall be installed, maintained and operated to the reasonable satisfaction of Lancashire Constabulary. All public areas of the premises, with the exception of the toilets, shall be covered by the system;
(b) The system shall display on any recording the correct time and date of the recording;
(c) The system shall be recording during all hours the premises is open to the public;
(d) VCR tapes or digital recording shall be held for a minimum of 30 days after the recording is made and will be made available to the Police for inspection upon request;
(e) The system shall, as a minimum, record images of the head and shoulders of all persons entering the premises.

2.       A staff member who is conversant with the operation of the CCTV system will be on the premises at all times the premises are open to the public. This staff member will be able to show police recent data or footage with the absolute minimum of delay when requestedand will be able to provide a copy of such footage to the police in a readable format within 24 hours.

3.      An A4 advisory sign indicating that CCTV is in operation at the premises should be displayed, at the main entrance and inside the premises.

4.      The Police Licensing Unit shall be notified on any occasion when the CCTV system is to be inoperative for a period in excess of one working day and shall provide a certificate from a competent person stating the reason for the system being inoperative and the measures which have been taken to satisfy the licence conditions.

5.      An authorisation of sales, signed and dated by the DPS shall be kept at the premises showing all persons authorised by them to make sales of alcohol at the premises. All staff involved in sales will be at least 18 years of age and will receive training to promote the licensing objectives. All training to be documented and records made available on request to Lancashire Police or any authorised officer.

6.      The licence holder is to support and rigorously enforce the Challenge 25 proof of age policy.

Any person who looks or appears to be under the age of 25 shall be asked to provide identification that they are over the age of 18. The following are the only forms of identification acceptable:
i. UK photo driving licence
ii. Passport
iii. Proof of Age Standards Scheme card.

If no suitable identification is provided sale of alcohol to them will be refused. Signs promoting this policy will be prominently displayed at public entrances and alcohol sales areas.

7.      All staff to have received suitable training in relation to the Proof of Age Scheme to be applied upon the premises. Records to evidence this will be made available to an authorised officer upon request. Staff will be trained on appointment and every 6 months thereafter.

8.      An incident book will be maintained, in which shall be recorded:

(a) All incidents of crime and disorder
(b) Refused sales to suspected under age / drunken persons
(c) A record of any person refused admission or asked to leave the premises
(d) Details of occasions upon which the Police are called to the premises

That book shall be available for inspection by a Police Officer or authorised person.

9.      The licence holder and the Designated Premises Supervisor shall nominate another person, who will deputise for the Designated Premises Supervisor in the DPSs absence, and shall ensure that the identity of the deputy is known by all other staff when such absence occurs.

10.  Single cans of beer or cider shall not be sold.

11. The display for alcohol will be less than 30% of the entire shop display. Any spirits will be stored behind the counter

12. No beer or cider with an ABV above 6.5% will be sold.

13. That the Premises Licence will not take effect until Mr Jeevratnam has submitted a resignation as Designated Premises Supervisor for any other premises.

Resolved:

That the application for a Premises Licence for Premier Store, 190-192 Central Drive be granted subject to the conditions outlined.