Agenda item

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 objectives outlined in its Licensing Policy and in reaching a decision the Sub Committee should have regard to policies in effect.

·               A duty to uphold the state of any conservation area is included in the Licensing guidelines – fly-posting and illegal advertising by the Licence Holder contravened this policy.

·               Pointing to the representation by Councillor Peter Doyle he suggested that further actions to comply with existing guidelines and a restriction on loudspeaker volumes were necessary.

·               A further concern that the residents shared was anti-social behaviour, including loud and swearing behaviour.

·               Residents should be able to sleep between 23:00 and 07:00 without being prevented from doing so by loud noise and should generally be able to enjoy their property at any time.

·               He mentioned that the previous Friday evening’s noise levels were horrendous and that 

·               His worry was that the Licence holder was simply spending money to attempt to make a venue suitable for his vision, on a building which was fundamentally unsuitable for the sort of premises and entertainment planned.

 

The Chairman then invited questions from the License Holder to the review applicant’s representative.

 

Mr Kerr, License Holder expressed that it was not his intention to upset or aggravate his neighbours – he wished at all times to have good relations with his neighbours.

 

Key points raised by the Interested Parties present – Mr B Foster on behalf of Miss V Munnelly & Mr A Foster were:

 

·               Certainty that the noise levels from the Phoenex bar were high enough to cause sleep disturbance.

·               Questions relating to the Council’s acceptable level of noise.

·               A belief that suggested noise volume limits, as defined by the Institute of Acoustics, were being exceeded

 

The Licence Holder made a number of points in the following areas:

 

·               Incidents at the Premises - He accepted that there have in the past been problems at his premises, but that he was in the process of smoothing these out.

·               The Licence Holder accepted that on the Friday previous to the meeting, (as mentioned by the review applicants), the windows had been left open – causing a problem.

·               He disputed the assertion that events continue until 3am or later, and maintained that the Bar remained open until 1am only, with around 20 people in the premises on average.

 

·               Behaviour and Culture of drinkers in Wootton Bassett - Younger customers now come to the premises in addition to former customers. All staff are highly trained and refuse drinks to those who are too drunk. When ejected by staff these customers can become confrontational and also can make noise. A blacklist of barred people has been established.

·               Patrons come down the street to the premises, but have no sensitivity to the noise they make in the high street. He has witnessed incidents of urination in the street and damage to flower borders.

·               There was a culture in Wootton Bassett of not dispersing following a music event or closing time.

 

·               Outfit and staffing of premises - The Licence holders had spent considerable funds to install air-conditioning and noise insulation so the premises are capable of withholding noise. The front porch had originally been removed in accordance with fire safety regulations and the new porch had been introduced at the Council officer’s request.

·               A member of staff will be stationed on the front door when there is live music. He hopes this will solve the problem. Customers are told upon exiting to be quiet and there were many signs to be quiet and reminding customers not to smoke

 

·               Advertising – The Licence holder emphasised that as a relatively new entrant to a competitive market, advertisement was necessary to attract and retain custom. He apologised for past mistakes which had been addressed in talks with Wootton Bassett town council and stated that he now advertises through local magazines and other avenues.

 

·               Working together to find a solution – The Licence holder emphasised that he wanted to work together with the community and offered to provide to officers a list of dates when live music would be playing. He would like to engage with residents and hold meetings. He stressed he maintained good working relationships with the School and Church who were the building’s immediate neighbours and that he and his wife try as much as possible to keep the area around the bar as clean as possible.

 

The parties were then given the opportunity to ask questions of the Licence Holder.  A debate ensued in which the Sub Committee discussed the following:

 

·         The Licence Holder added that a member of staff patrols the smoking area to keep the back door shut, and confirmed that doorstaff stationed at the front of the building were normal staff and not SIA-accredited.

·         It was confirmed all staff were permanent and had been in Mr Kerr’s employ for 2/3 years

·         The Chairman reminded the Licence holder that it was his responsibility to ensure that windows etc were not left open and causing unacceptable noise. The Licence Holder assured the Sub Committee that he would lock the windows in the future

·         Questioned about actions to make the situation more sustainable the Licence Holder added that he did not believe the problem as severe as previously, and that he was amenable to a sound limiter being installed.

·         The DPS was confirmed as Mrs Margaret Kerr, with Mrs Morris also holding a personal license.

·         In response to a question from Mr Foster the Licence Holder commented that he did not see a need for SIA-accredited doorstaff, and that he hoped to handle containment himself.

·         The Licence holder disputed the assertion that there were bottles thrown about every weekend.

 

The Sub Committee members sought clarification on some points before retiring to consider the application and were accompanied by the Solicitor for Wiltshire Council and the Democratic Services Officer.

 

The Sub Committee then retired to consider the application at 12.05

 

The Hearing reconvened at 14.05

 

Following the deliberations of the Sub Committee Members, the Solicitor for the Council made a statement of material legal advice given in closed session as follows:

 

There were no specific issues upon which the solicitor offered advice other than to remind the Sub Committee of the options available to them and the relevant criteria to be taken into account when considering their decision.

 

The Sub Committee considered all of the submissions made to it and the written representations together with the Licensing Act 2003, Statutory Guidance and Regulations and the Licensing Policy of the Council

 

Resolved:

 

That the premises license be amended by the addition of several conditions, as detailed below: