Agenda, decisions and minutes

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

Resolved:

To elect Councillor Desna Allen as Chairman for this meeting only.

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

There were no apologies for absence.

The Chairman 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”

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

To consider and determine the Objection Notice received from Wiltshire Police for two Temporary Events Notices in respect of 17a Station Hill, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 1EQ.  The report of the Public Protection Officer (Licensing) is attached.

Application by SN15 Leisure Limited for two Temporary Event Notices (TEN’s) at 17a, Station Road, Chippenham, SN15 1EQ.

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 those who had made a Relevant Representation were given the opportunity to address the Sub-Committee.

Key points raised by the Responsible Authority (Susan Thurman-Newell of Licensing Office, Wiltshire Police) were:

·               The premises had been the subject of numerous incidents of crime and disorder, both within the premise and in the vicinity, culminating in the current Premise Licence Conditions. The applicants were a new management team who had had no opportunity to provide any demonstrable compliance with the Licensing Objectives.

·                SN15 were seeking and had submitted a Variation of their Premises Licence, primarily to seek the reduction and on occasion removal of the Door Supervisor Condition, together with the amendment of the Polycarbonate Condition, moving to a risk assessment basis. However, the effect of the two TEN’s submitted was to remove all the Premise Licence Conditions.

·                The TEN’s as submitted did not refer to any current licensable activities, but referred to those amendments submitted in a recent Variation application by the current management team, and which was currently undergoing a period of consultation and had not yet been enacted.

·                The premise had been the subject of close scrutiny from both police and council licensing enforcement officers, but on the date of the TEN’s notifications, 8 December 2015, an inspection of the CCTV provision at SN15, which the Wiltshire Police Crime Reduction Officer had previously been advised had been installed in line with her requirements, identified non-compliance.   There currently being only 48 hours to remedy that non-compliance prior to opening on 10 December 2015 gave cause for concern that during the 12 days of trading under the current premise Licence there was non-compliance with the Condition, namely:

CCTV; (c) The CCTV is to be reviewed and if necessary upgraded to standards required by Wiltshire Police Crime Reduction Officer.

The very recent change in management therefore gave rise to concern in relation to the previous history of crime and disorder.

Key points raised by Matthew Phipps of TLT Solicitors on behalf of the Applicant were:

·               A Premises Licence was granted in December 2014 and the premises opened for the first time in August 2015 for six weeks on Friday and Saturday nights.  Different individuals were involved in managing the premises at that time.

·                SN15 Leisure Ltd was still the Licence Holder and Mr Paul Shayegan was still a director.  SN15 Leisure Ltd had varied the Designated Premises Supervisor to be Mr Robin Puddephatt.

·                SN15 Leisure Ltd was seeking a relaxation of two conditions in the Premises Licence for the period Thursday 24 and Friday 25 December 2015, concerning the number of SIA registered door supervisors required and the use of polycarbonate glasses.

·                Much of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.