Agenda, decisions and minutes

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

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 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 The Black Pearl, 5a Church Street, Trowbridge, BA14 8DR made by Mr M Hinds.

Application by Martin Hinds for a Premises Licence at The Black Pearl, 5a Church Street, Trowbridge

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 and the Responsible Authority who had made a Relevant Representation (Wiltshire Police) were given the opportunity to address the Sub Committee.

The Licensing Officer reported that the Environmental Health team had not made a representation on the basis that an agreement had been reached that if a licence was granted then the following noise conditions would be included:

1.         Noise levels will be checked regularly during regulated entertainment to make sure noise from the premises is at a level unlikely to cause disturbance to neighbours.  If noise from the premises is too loud the volume will be turned down accordingly.  A written record of such checks will be maintained and kept on the premises.

2.         All doors and windows will be shut during regulated entertainment.

3.         In order to reduce noise breakout, the fire door shall promptly be changed or soundproofed after the approval of a scheme by Public Protection.

Key points raised by Martin Hinds, Applicant were:

·                The premises were generally quiet until later in the evening. The pub was used extensively by pool players who participated in the local pool league. He called Mr. Russ Matthews, Chairman of the Trowbridge and District Pool League in support of this point.

·                He felt that the premises had come a long way and did not consider that all of the conditions that had been placed on the previous licence were now necessary. In particular, he was critical of the condition restricting use of the outside smoking area, which he felt was not workable, as it was used by people other than those who were in the Black Pearl.

·                He had cooperated with the police in respect of the recent incidents and had replaced the previous DPS, as she had been unwilling or unable to deal with people who caused problems at the premises.

·                He called Mr. Chris Fox, the proposed DPS to speak. Mr. Fox stated that he could have dealt with some of the incidents that had occurred, had the police contacted him. He confirmed that he was not employed by the Black Pearl but did visit it regularly to check whether there were any issues.

·                It was his intention in the longer term that the premises might become a members-only club.

The following questions were asked of the Applicant:

What days of the week are Pool Nights normally held on?

Normally on Mondays.

What conditions would you like to amend/delete?

Some of them work but some of them don’t.  I would like to be able to use glasses until 2200 hrs instead of 2100 hrs.  The others I would like to work on in time.  A large number of the conditions are not relevant to Pee Wees so why  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.