Agenda, decisions and minutes

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

Resolved:

To elect Councillor Trevor Carbin as Chairman for this meeting only.

To consider and determine an Application for a Premises Licence by James Beanland in respect of The Old Fire Station, Warminster.

Application by James Beanland for a Premises Licence at The Old Fire Station, Warminster.

The Licensing Officer introduced the purpose and scope of the application, the premises to which it related and the key issues for consideration.

In accordance with the procedure detailed in the agenda, the Applicant, the Responsible Authorities and the Interested Parties were given the opportunity to address the Sub-Committee.

Key points raised by James Beanland the Applicant:

·               He wanted to create a modern contemporary wine bar with a relaxed atmosphere for which he believed there was a market for in the town.

·               Music would be played at a controlled level.

·               Smoking would not be permitted on the street outside the premises, a designated area would be allocated at the rear of the building enclosed by a 2.1m wall.

·               No open containers would be allowed to leave the premises therefore there would not be an issue with bottles or glasses being broken in the street.

Key points raised by the Responsible Authority, Graham Steady of Public Protection, Wiltshire Council were:

·               The applicant is proposing the playing of amplified music and to date a report which would demonstrate its use without causing undue loss of amenity to the neighbours has not been seen.  In the absence of this and the lack of confidence in the acoustics of the building making it likely that noise nuisance would be caused by noise breakout to the dwellings in close proximity of The Old Fire Station, his advice would be to exclude the provision of regulated music with in the license if approved.

Interested Parties were primarily represented by Major J McKay. Others who also spoke were Mrs B Glasson, Mrs B Cole, Mr A Duff, Mrs V Allen, Mrs D Beagles, Mrs B Owens, Mrs I Fretwell, Mrs M Batchelor, Mr T Gilvray, Mrs M Brannigan, Mr M Brassington and Mrs S Jones. Key points raised were:

·               Opening hours of the proposed venue would conflict have an impact on children of local residents being disadvantaged by noise.

·               The local crèche, already have to pick up glasses and bottles from a nearby club and often residents have to remove urine and vomit from walls and pavements.

·               Noise nuisance would be caused by amplified music including karaoke, people outside smoking, deliveries occurring before 7am, commercial waste collection and additional vehicles such as taxis picking up revellers up from premises late at night.

·               Commercial waste collections will cause additional pressure for residents as pavements are narrow and elderly residents will have to walk in the road.

·               Extra lighting will spill into local housing.

·               Closing times with another local bar will correlate and there will be potential to cause crime and disorder.

·               Parking for local residents is already cramped and additional premises where there is no available parking with exacerbate the parking situation.

The parties were given the opportunity to ask questions of the Applicant, Responsible Authority, Interested Parties and Wiltshire Council Officers.

The Sub-Committee members sought clarification on some points before retiring to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.