Agenda and draft minutes

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

Resolved:

That Councillor Hutton 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 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 the order in which the applicant and objector would be heard and that the decision of the Panel would be communicated following the meeting.

To consider two Temporary Event Notices for Shadow Bar, 19-23 Clifton Street, Blackpool, FY1 1JD.

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

B. Determination of the applications for Temporary Event Notices – Shadow Bar, Clifton Street, Blackpool.

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

The Panel considered an application for a Temporary Events Notice (TEN) for the Shadow Bar, 19-23 Clifton Street, Blackpool, FY1 1JD.

The applicant Mr Raphael Suski was represented by Mr Mark Marshall who outlined the case for granting a TEN for the Shadow Bar.

As part of the Police objection to the application they had highlighted that a condition of the Shadow Bar’s licence stated that no glasses could be used after 10.00pm and instead poly-carbonate drinking vessels should be used, had not been met. Mr Marshall informed the Panel that this condition had been on the licence for an extended period and had originally been included due to a number of historic incidents across Blackpool. He added that it had remained on the licence through multiple ownership changes and was not therefore based on any actions undertaken by Mr Suski.

The Panel was also informed that Mr Suski had met Mr Petrak, the Head of Licensing, Blackpool Council, on 8 July 2021 to discuss the requirements for the licence for the Shadow Bar. Mr Suski had characterised this meeting as very useful in ensuring that the conditions of the licence would be met, however he did not recall that the condition relating to glass had been raised and therefore he had not taken steps to implement it.

In relation to Police objections relating to an incident on 13 August 2021 where an assault involving glass had taken place and they were unable to obtain CCTV evidence due to Shadow Bar staff being unable to access the system, Mr Marshall explained that Mr Suski had taken steps to ensure appropriate training and measures were in place. These included ensuring supervisors knew how to access the system and that the CCTV instruction manual was easily accessible. Mr Marshall also stated that additional information regarding the incident could be made available to the Police following the meeting.

It was added that on the 13 August 2021 the Bar’s security had reacted quickly to the incident and that other similar occurrences were not uncommon elsewhere in the town centre.

Mr Marshall also outlined that Mr Suski would bring forward the requested closing time in the application, from 4.00am to 3.00am to assist in allaying the concerns raised by the Police. It was also stated that the application for a TEN for 19 September would be withdrawn so that it did not clash with an event planned for the North Pier.

Mr Suski stating to the Panel that he took the responsibilities of a licence holder seriously and would be in attendance on all the dates for which a TEN had been applied for to ensure compliance. Mr Marshall added that at the time of the meeting the Shadow Bar would be unable to comply with the glass use condition and therefore asked that it be set aside otherwise the business would have to close.

The Panel queried if Mr Suski had read the conditions of the Shadow Bar’s licence prior to their 8  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.