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 apologies for absence and to note any substitutions.

Apologies were received from Mr Paul Gardner, the Applicant.  There were no substitutions.

The Chairman notified all those present at the meeting that it was not being recorded by Wiltshire Council, but that the meeting could be recorded by the  press or members of the public.

The Chairman reminded those present that any speakers that wished to remain and make a statement to the Sub Committee would be giving consent to there being the possibility that they would be recorded presenting this.

It was noted that those that had made a representation would not be identified by name within the minutes or decision notice.

The Chairman then asked if anyone present wished to withdraw from the meeting.  All parties confirmed they wished to remain in and take part in the Sub Committee hearing.

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 5 to 10 of the Agenda refers).

The Chairman gave details of the exits to be used in the event of an emergency.

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 by The Chaffinch Pub Company Limited in respect of The Bath Arms, Crockerton, Warminster.  The report of the Public Protection Officer (Licensing) is attached.

Application by The Chaffinch Pub Company Limited for the variation of a Premises Licence in respect of The Bath Arms, Crockerton, Warminster

Licensing Officer’s Submission

The Sub Committee gave consideration to a report (circulated with the Agenda) in which determination was sought for an application for a variation of a Premises Licence, presented by Carla Adkins the Public Protection Officer (Licensing)  for which 14 relevant representations had been received.  The application was for the following licensable activities:

·       To extend the existing licensable area to include the outside space;

·       To extend the timings for the sale of alcohol to 00:30hrs daily and remove the non-standard timings; and

·       For the addition of an outside bar.

It was noted by the Sub Committee that there were 3 options available to them:

1. To grant the application, on the terms and conditions applied for

2. To grant the application, on the terms and conditions applied for, modified to such extent as considered appropriate to promote the Licensing Objectives,

3. To reject the application in whole or in part.  

The Public Protection Officer (Licensing) then highlighted the following:

·       That the current Applicant had been the premises licence holder since July 2022 and the premise has benefited from a premises licence since November 2005 under the Licensing Act 2003 and prior to this under previous legislation;

·       Sixteen relevant representatives were initially received, 15 from local residents in objection to the application and one from the Senior Public Protection Officer (Environmental Control and Protection) in relation to concerns over noise nuisance.  A number of conditions to mitigate the potential noise nuisance were proposed by the Senior Public Protection Officer and these were agreed by the Applicant who then requested that an email be sent to all those who had made a relevant representation to outline the Applicant’s intention and their agreement with the proposed conditions.  As a result of this communication one of the local residents withdrew their representation;

·       Many of those that had made representations commented on a perceived change to the opening hours of the premises.  The current premises licence allows the premises to open until 01:00hrs daily and the variation application did not seek to change that; and

·       The appeals procedure for the parties following a decision made at  the hearing.

The Chairman asked the Public Protection Officer (Licensing) if the wooden fence that was understood to have already been erected met the specification recommended by the Senior Public Protection Officer (Environmental Control and Protection) to be constructed of a material with a density no less than 10kg/mc and that there should be no gaps or holes in the structure?  The Public Protection Officer (Licensing) reported that she was not sure if this was the case and that the Senior Public Protection Officer intended to inspect the fence to see if this was the case.

The following parties attended the hearing and took part in it:

On behalf of the Applicant

·       The Applicant was not present at the meeting

Relevant Representations

• Rep 1 –  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.