Agenda, decisions and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the meeting of the Sub Committee.

Nominations for a Chair of the Licensing Sub Committee were sought and it was

Resolved:

To elect Councillor Peter Hutton as Chair for this meeting only.

To receive any apologies for absence and to note any substitutions.

No apologies were received.

The Chair explained the procedure to be followed at the hearing, as contained within the “Wiltshire Licensing Committee Procedural Rules for the Hearing of Licensing Act 2003 Applications” (Pages 5 to 11 of the Agenda refers).  The Chair informed the parties that two Councillors – Cllr Hopkinson and Cllr Yuill would be observing the hearing (and not taking part) for training purposes only.

There were no announcements.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

To consider and determine an Application for a Premises Licence in respect of Woolley Grange Hotel, Wooley Green, Bradford on Avon made by LFH (Woolley Grange) Ltd.  The report of the Public Protection Officer – Licensing is attached.

Application for a Variation of a Premises Licence; Woolley Grange Hotel, Woolley Green, Bradford On Avon, Wiltshire, BA15 1TX

Licensing Officer’s Submission

The Sub Committee gave consideration to a report (circulated with the Agenda) in which determination was sought for an application for a variation of a premises licence, presented by Emma Batchelor (Public Protection Officer – Licensing) for which two relevant representations had been received.  The application was for the following licensable activities:

·         To Increase the licenced area to include the Glamping Field and Outdoor Pool where a Restaurant/ Bar will be sited as the current licence

It was noted by the Sub Committee that there were three options available to them:

·         Grant the application, on the terms and conditions applied for.

·         Grant the application, on the terms and conditions applied for, modified to such extent as considered appropriate to promote the Licensing Objectives.

·         To reject the application  in whole or in part.

The following parties attended the hearing and took part in it:

On behalf of the Applicant

·         Ms Clare Hammond – Manager

·         Mr Simon Maguire – Operations Director

Relevant Representations

·         Mr Tim Darsley - local resident in objection to the application

·         Mrs Caroline Watson - local resident  in objection to the application

Responsible Authorities

·         There were none

The Chair advised that the written representations had been read and considered by the members of the Sub Committee in advance of the meeting.

The Chair invited the Applicant to introduce their application.

Applicant’s submission

The Applicant - Stephen Graham spoke in support of the application, highlighting the following points:

·         That the hotel was looking to provide a high end glamping experience at their family friendly hotel.

·         That the pricing of the drinks menu would not promote anti-social drinking.

·         That security would be employed in the evening to ensure that nothing got out of hand.

·         That any meals served would be finished by 9:30pm in a family friendly manner.

·         That there would be some background music, with occasional guitar music also presented.

·         That the glamping area should be regarded as part of the existing hotel and not a separate entity.

·         That tests carried out by the hotel did not evidence  any additional  noise or disturbance.

·         That the glamping pods built were facing away from the  respondents dwellings.

Sub Committee Member’s questions

In response to Members questions the following points of clarification were given:

·         Could residents of the clamping pods bring their own alcohol – there were no rules preventing  guests from bringing alcohol but  the hotel does however charge corkage on these drinks.

·         What would stop a guest using a glamping pod from inviting friends to join them that were non-residents - this would be monitored by the security on duty to ensure that there was no excessive noise and other pod guests were not disturbed .

·         Were there any restrictions on car movements at night – once guests were in residence,  cars would not be moved.   The staff car park is situated further away.

Questions from those who made  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.