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.

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

To consider and determine an application for a variation of a Premises Licence in respect of SN15, 17a Station Hill, Chippenham, SN15 1EQ, made by SN15 Leisure Ltd.  The report of the Licensing Officer is attached.

Application by SN15 Leisure Limited for a Variation of a Premises Licence in respect of SN15, 17a Station Hill, Chippenham

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

·                This was an application to amend the existing Premises Licence conditions, including those relating to SIA security staff, use of polycarbonate/glassware and the use of the outside area;

·                The Premises Licence was granted on 26 November 2014 and was varied at a hearing on 19 January 2016; and

·                During the consultation process, six relevant representations were received – 1 from a resident, 1 from the Town Councillor for the area, 1 from the County Councillor.  Three representations were received from Responsible Authorities – Wiltshire Council - Licensing Authority, Wiltshire Council - Environment Control and Protection and from Wiltshire Police.

In accordance with the procedure detailed in the agenda, the Applicants, the Responsible Authorities and those who had made a relevant representation were given the opportunity to address the Sub Committee.

Key points raised by Philip Kolvin, QC, on behalf of the Applicants, were:

·                Prior to the meeting this morning they had met with the Responsible Authorities who had made a relevant representation in an attempt to clarify, simplify and agree the amendments to the licence conditions that they were seeking.  Handwritten proposed amended conditions were circulated to all parties at the hearing for consideration;

·                Since these Premises began trading again in 2015 there have been no complaints to Environmental Health, no incident call outs at the premises requiring the Police.  The Applicants have had an extremely good record since they were open.  Minor breaches of the licence had occurred , but in general it was a well-managed establishment;

·                A new Manager – Adam Hatch who was now the Designated Premises Supervisor and he had a decent track record in the industry and of managing late night venues;

·                Since the premises reopened they have only been trading on Friday and Saturday nights.  Tantra is a bar/lounge on the ground floor which opens at 7pm, plays background music and probably receives 30-50 patrons on a good evening.  Very occasionally there may have been up to 100 patrons on the premises.  Upstairs is a nightclub which has seating and a dancefloor and a VIP area/cocktail bar.  At most there had only been 200 in the venue at any one time. 

·                The business was currently losing £3,000 a week because of the low attendance and the need to provide a large number of door staff as soon as the doors open.  Research has been carried out and there is no demand for a nightclub in Chippenham 7 nights a week and there is currently not enough business in the town to go around, so things have to change or it would be extremely unsustainable and the premises would have to cease trading;

·                The Applicants are proposing to run the downstairs Tantra lounge bar until 00.00, similar  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.