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.

Resolved:

To elect Councillor Desna Allen 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 5-11 of the Agenda refers).

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

To determine an application for a Review of a Premises Licence in respect of Favourite Chicken & Ribs, 3 Market Place, Trowbridge, Wiltshire made by Wiltshire Council’s Licensing Authority.

The Licensing Officer presented the Committee Report outlining the licensing objectives and options the Committee could take to meet these objectives. The history of the premises licence and the current licence was described alongside the grounds for its review. The officer advised that one relevant representation had been received from Wiltshire Police.

In accordance with the procedure detailed in the agenda, the Review Applicant, the authority that had made the Relevant Representation and the Premises Licence Holder were given the opportunity to address the Sub Committee.

Key points raised by Linda Holland, Review Applicant, were that:

·            The Premises License Holder had repeatedly failed to comply with conditions attached to the licence and the licensing objective of the prevention of crime and disorder, as such the only option would be to revoke the license. Evidence of the failure to prevent crime and disorder had been shared by Wiltshire Police and was in the agenda pack. Particular attention was drawn to an incident on 9 February 2014 when a female was assaulted at the premises and the shop window was smashed.

·            A Magistrates Court decision maintained the need for the Premises License Holder to employ door staff;

·            Mr Olmez had been warned in writing on many occasions, in addition to verbal warnings given by Police, that he was breaching the conditions of his licence. Attention was drawn to evidence of these warnings;

·            At the Western Area Licensing Sub Committee in January 2014, Mr Olmez suggested that door staff would help him to meet the licensing objectives and suggested that a third member of door staff be introduced. At that Hearing, Mr Olmez’ representative advised the Sub Committee that the licence holder now fully understood the requirements of the licence and was determined to meet them;

·            There had been 38 witnessed breaches of the licence  19 January 2014 until 28 February 2015 mainly centring on the non-provision of door staff, and Police evidence demonstrated that Mr Olmez  appeared un-concerned by this non-compliance;

·            Police logs demonstrated that when door stewards were present they were able to assist the Police;

·            A review application was submitted in January 2015, however Police logs since this date indicated that Mr Olmez continued to show a disregard for the conditions of his licence;

·            Mr Olmez showed little concern for public safety, for instance he had let members of the public go behind the food counter and had left a broken window of the property insecure for 12 months;

·            The Licensing Authority, as the Responsible Authority, had no confidence that Mr Olmez would comply with the conditions attached to his licence and felt all existing conditions were necessary.

Questions were asked of the Review Applicant and it was confirmed that all visits to the premises had been recorded, therefore any instances of compliance with the licence would have been included in the written evidence. The Licensing Authority had decided that a review of the licence with a recommendation to revoke was needed over the Christmas 2014-15 period when there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.