Agenda and minutes

Please Note: At this point of the meeting Councillor Woods’s noted that he was aware that County Councillor Patel owned KP News who was objecting to the Application.  Mr Payne of Horsey Lightly Solicitors who was representing KP News stated that Councillor Patel’s County Council membership had no bearing on this case and confirmed that the objection had not come directly from him.  Steve Dadds from LLP Solicitors (for the Applicant) accepted that the Sub-Committee would be objective and base their decision with fairness and transparency and he was grateful for the declaration.  Councillor Wilson noted that she had heard of County Councillor Patel but had never met him.

The Chair introduced the Sub-Committee and welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Outline of the Application by the Licensing Officer

The Licensing Officer outlined the application by Mr Mehmet Dermen Bayran for a Premises Licence in respect of 85-87 Weedon Road, Northampton.  She noted the objections received from residents and businesses local to the Premises and then explained the procedure for the hearing.

Mr Payne commented that at this point in the meeting, that there were some discrepancies in regard to the display notices concerning the application.

It was confirmed that the application was sent on 17 December 2010 but as this was a period of bad weather and snow Royal Mail had ceased to guarantee timescales for delivery.  The notice was posted on the premises on 17 December 2011 and the 28 day notice period commenced at this time

At this point Members adjourned to take Legal Advice.

Members questioned Gary Stokes, Enforcement Officer, about the dates the application was received and the timescale that the Notice was displayed.  It was explained that the Licensing Authority had received a call from a member of the public regarding this application and as an application had not been received Mr Stokes visited the premises on 20 December 2011 to view the notice, to ensure its visibility and request when the application would be received.  The application was received and stamped by the Licensing Authority on 23 December 2010 and it was noted that that the applicants did not ensure receipt of the application directly with the Licensing Authority. 

Therefore, the end date of objections was assumed to be 14 January 2011 and this was the one publicised by the applicant.  The applicants’ representatives wished to note that there was not unfair or prejudice toward the objectors because they were still granted enough time to raise objections, given the quantity received.  

Mr Payne wished to confirm that this authority had no provision under the Licensing Act 2003 to extend or reduce deadline periods.  He also commented that with the best will in the world, the application would likely not have been received by the authority until Monday 20 December 2010, as it was posted on Friday 17 December 2010.  Due to this, the notice period from 17 December 2010 was incorrect. 

At this point Members adjourned to take Legal Advice

On return the Sub-Committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.