Agenda and minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 17 January 2011 (copy attached).

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

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item. Please contact the officer named above for any further clarification.

Members of the public wishing to ask a question should give written notice (including details of any question) to the officer named above by 5.00pm, Wednesday 30^th March.

To receive the minutes of the following Licensing Sub Committees:

Western Area

06.01.2011

24.02.2011

Southern Area

06.01.2011

01.02.2011

The minutes of the Western Area Licensing Sub Committee held 6 January 2011 and 24 February 2011 were presented and it was,

Resolved:

To approve and sign the minutes as a correct record.

The minutes of the Southern Area Licensing Sub Committee held 6 January 2011 and 1 February 2011 were presented and it was,

Resolved:

To approve and sign the minutes as a correct record.

Sgt Allan George from Wiltshire Police will give an update on the implementation of radios for door staff in Chippenham.

The Committee received a presentation from Sgt Allan George of Wiltshire Police regarding the purchase and implementation of ICOM radio systems for premises door staff in Chippenham.

The benefits of the scheme were identified as follows:

·         Outright purchase of radios, with licence warranty but no maintenance contract cost, with scheme funded through Performance Award Grant paid to Wiltshire Police;

·         System enables immediate real-time communications between door staff in Chippenham;

·         System is linked in to CCTV operatives and Wiltshire Police, enabling them to track and provide backup for incidents respectively;

·         Provision of reserve radios for occasional high-profile events hosted by premises beyond the ‘core’ group with own radios;

·         Radios can be used to full capacity during seasonal periods of known peaks in disruptive behaviour;

·         Links between short-term monitoring and wider PubWatch scheme;

·         Shortcomings in transmission range (usually <2 miles) of radios backed up by existing Tetra radios with national range used by Police; and

·         System offers a preventative, cost-effective and proactive rather than reactive tool in combating public disorder in Chippenham.

Members asked questions of Sgt George and relayed their support for the scheme.

The report of Alissa Davies (National Management Trainee, Licensing Team North and West) seeks to inform Members of the results of public consultation on a single, council-wide street trading scheme.

The Committee received an introduction to the report from Alissa Davies, Wiltshire Council National Management Trainee, Licensing, outlining the main issues raised by public consultation on a proposed council-wide Street Trading Scheme.

Having received a high level of response to the public consultation, the key issues raised were as follows:

·         The scope of the scheme’s application, including the type of trading and the inclusion of private land;

·         Perceived bureaucracy and length of  time it would take to determine applications; and

• Levels of fees for prospective Street Trading Consent holders.

Additional issues were identified as follows:

·         Overlap with the functions of the Department for Neighbourhood and Planning – for example  Highways and Planning and

·         The council’s position on competition between street traders and fixed business premises.

The Committee considered and discussed the report in detail, and it was,

Resolved:

To accept the proposed measures to overcome the issues raised by public consultation, subject to the following amendments prior to a second, shorter public consultation on the revised street trading scheme:

(i)                 Options at paragraph 6.2 of the report to be accepted with the following amendments:

·      Pt 1 to read ‘... within 10 metres of any road, car park or industrial estate with the word ‘street’ removed from the sentence

·      Pt 3 to read ‘non-commercial, community or charitable events where the profits are wholly passed to a charity or political/educational organisation or otherwise not for private gain.’

·      Pt 5 to read ‘goods from working farms or smallholdings sold at the premises...’

(ii)               Paragraph 7.7 of the report to be accepted pending amendment to read ‘The Council should not have a role in controlling competition between street traders and fixed business premises if street traders are paying street trading fees to the council.’ Amendment of Appendix 1 (page 62) to remove the criteria ‘Needs of the area...’

(iii)             To retain the exemptions listed in paragraph 3.3 of the report, pending amendment of pt 3 to read ‘...within 200m of a school or college’. Amendment of Appendix 2, pt 10 of the report to  read ‘No Street Trading Consents will be granted for trading at locations within a 200 metre walk using the public highway of a school or sixth form college, unless otherwise agreed in writing by Wiltshire Council.’

(iv)             Appendix 1, paragraph 4, pt 1 of the draft scheme to be amended to read ‘... except where those premises are occupied by the person holding the Street Trading Consent, unless otherwise agreed in writing by Wiltshire Council.’

(v)               Proposed fee structure to be accepted, with ‘Town Centre’ areas to be defined as those within the boundaries of Town Councils, and those areas to be subject to the higher rate of fees. The lower fee rate will therefore apply to all areas outside Town Council boundaries, unless agreed otherwise in writing by Wiltshire Council. Officers to prepare a list of Town Councils to be considered at the next meeting of the Licensing Committee.

(vi)             Town and Parish Council markets to be exempt  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

Any other items of business, which in the opinion of the Chairman should be taken as a matter of urgency.

Urgent items of a confidential nature may be considered under Part II of this agenda.

The Chairman agreed that the Committee consider the following items.

(i)                 Touch2id

The Chairman introduced a request from Cllr Mark Griffiths to consider the implementation of the Touch2id proof-of-age identification system in licensed premises across Wiltshire. The Committee considered the request and it was,

Resolved:

To consider the matter at the next meeting of the Licensing Committee.

(ii)               Consideration of Final Street Trading Scheme

The Chairman outlined the need to schedule a meeting of the Licensing Committee following the amendments to and final consultation on the proposed street trading scheme considered at item 8. As the meeting must take place prior to the Autumn meeting of full Council, at which the final scheme should be formally adopted, it was,

Resolved:

To schedule a meeting of the Licensing Committee for Wednesday 7 September 2011 to consider the final proposed Street Trading Scheme.

(iii)             Licensing Sub-Committee Site Visits

Cllr Allen raised a point regarding a request received from an interested party at a recent Licensing Sub-Committee that the panel members undertake a site visit in order to fully understand the implications of the application. Upon discussion by the Committee, it was,

Resolved:

To delegate to licensing officers to investigate the issue and report back to the next meeting of the Licensing Committee on the potential to implement suitable guidelines on this issue.