Agenda and draft minutes

The Licensing Panel considered the appointment of a Chairman for the meeting.

Resolved:

That Councillor Jones 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.

There were no declarations of interest on this occasion.

The Chairman of the Panel will summarise the procedure and announce the equal maximum amount of time for each party to speak for the hearing.

A.         Items 1 and 4 (b) will be undertaken in private session by the Panel and not in the Meeting Room.

B.         Items 2, 3 and 4(a) will be recommended to the Panel to be held in public.

C.         The Panel may decide to exclude the public from all or part of a hearing where it considers that the public interest in so doing outweighs the public interest in the hearing, or that part of the hearing, taking place in public. (This includes a party and any person assisting or representing a party)

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

To consider an application for a new Premises Licence for Trades Hotel, 51-55 Lord Street and 42 Banks Street

A.     Application and representations submitted. To consider the attached report.

B.     Determination of the application for a Premises Licence – Trades Hotel

The Licensing Panel will indicate how the decision is to be communicated to interested parties.

The Licensing Panel considered an application for the Trades Hotel, 51-55 Lord Street and 42 Banks Street. The Panel noted that the application concerned the two existing premises the Trades Hotel and Moores Hotel and both sites currently had individual licences. The applicant Mr Cropper had indicated that the application had been submitted with the intention of simplifying the situation now that both premises were to be operated by the same Licence Holder under the same operation. The applicant had indicated that the existing Premises Licences would be surrendered if the new Premises Licence was granted.

The Licensing Panel noted that the application had requested permission for Live Music (Indoors), Recorded Music (Indoors),  and the Supply of Alcohol (On the Premises) Monday to Sunday 10.00 to 03.00 also Late Night Refreshment (Indoors) Monday to Sunday 23.00 to 03.00 at the Lord Street site and Live Music (Indoors), Recorded Music (Indoors),  and the Supply of Alcohol (On and Off the Premises) Monday to Sunday 10.00 to 02.00 also Late Night Refreshment (Indoors) Monday to Sunday 23.00 to 02.00 at the Banks Street site with opening hours 10.00 to 03.30 Monday to Sunday at Lord Street and 10.00 to 02.30 at Banks Street. The hours had been amended following the receipt of initial representations from the Police and the applicant had also added a number of conditions which were outlined in the mediation agreement attached to the agenda.

Mr Neil Cropper accompanied by his representative Mr Mark Marshall were in attendance and made representations to the Licensing Panel. Mr Marshall highlighted that the application had been submitted by an experienced operator with a large amount of direct experience within that area. Mr Marshall highlighted that no objection had been received from any responsible authorities who were aware of Mr Cropper’s experience and track record.

The members of the public submitting representations concerning this application did not attend the meeting in person but the panel considered their written representations. The Panel noted that a submission had been received from Councillor Ivan Taylor in support of the objections but also noted that no representation within the statutory period had been received from Councillor Taylor.

The Panel on balance considered that while the objections had expressed concern about changes to the area it considered that in the absence of evidence or support from the responsible authorities that these were speculative and without evidence it would not be reasonable to assume that the application would impact on the Licensing Objectives.

The Panel concluded that it would be appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives to grant this application subject to the amendments and conditions as agreed with the Police (pages 39-41 of the agenda)

Resolved:

That the application for a Premises Licence for Trades Hotel be granted as amended.