Agenda, decisions and minutes

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

Resolved:

To elect Councillor Jon Hubbard as Chairman for this meeting only.

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” (Pages 1 – 8 of the Agenda refers).

To consider and determine an Application for a Review of the Premises Licence in respect of Pheonex Bar 4 High Street Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire SN4 7BS

To determine an application for a Review of a Premises License in respect of the Phoenex Bar, 4 High Street, Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, SN4 7BS by Ms P Evans and Ms L Sefton, local residents living in the vicinity of the premises.

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

These were:

• The key licensing objectives and possible steps as listed in the Wiltshire Council Licensing policy.
• That Mr and Mrs Kerr had taken ownership of the building in 2007 and had carried out major renovations as well as applying for, and obtaining a full Premises License to run alongside the existing Club Premises Certificate.
• Since 2008 the Licensing and Public Protection teams had been aware of complaints regarding noise from within the building and from its patrons upon leaving, as well as anti-social behaviour by patrons and complaints of littering.
• The main grounds for review raised by local residents were a) Noise Nuisance caused by entertainment held at the premises, and b) Antisocial behaviour by patrons of the premises.
• There were 7 relevant representations from residents living nearby during the consultation period and 1 from the local divisional member.
• The representations raised a variety of concerns including that of signage, and suggestions for improvement. Mr Kerr, the License Holder had also submitted a representation advising of the steps he planned to take to address the concerns of the residents.

Questions were received from the Sub Committee and the Licensing officer clarified that whilst the License holders had taken measures asked of them to try to address the problem, these solutions had only been temporarily success, with complaint usually re-surfacing after a period of time.  

The Sub Committee then took the opportunity to receive the expert view of the Council’s Senior Public Protection Officer, on the acoustics of the building and to receive a summary of his involvement with the building.

His main points were as follows:

• First complaints were received in November 2010 – with a letter sent to the premises informing the License holder of local concerns and offering to monitor the premises thereafter.
• Some further complaints were also received in 2011 so far, although there has been no opportunity to establish if the noise constitutes a statutory nuisance. 
• The officer had visited the premises and suggested improvements such as adding a front porch with self-closing doors. It was confirmed this had been done.
• At that time there was no evidence of unreasonable activities but he expected that proposed Drum n’ Bass nights would be likely to struggle to meet guidelines on what constitutes acceptable noise levels.

In accordance with the procedure detailed in the agenda, the review applicant, the Interested Parties and the License Holder were given the opportunity to address the Sub Committee.

Key points raised by Mr Evans on behalf of the applicants for a review were:

·               Wiltshire Council was obliged by law to promote the four licensing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.