Agenda and minutes

Venue: The Council Chamber, St. Giles Square, Northampton, NN1 1DE.

Contact: Email: democraticservices@northampton.gov.uk  01604 837722

Items
No. Item

1.

Review - Flux/Atlantic pdf icon PDF 1 MB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

 

Councillor Strachan declared a personal interest as a Northamptonshire County Councillor as a Member of the Fire and Rescue Sub Committee. He made explained that he is only involved in matters relating to any changes in legislation or regulation and does not deal with any operational matters with the Fire Authority.

 

The Senior Licensing Officer outlined the purpose of the hearing and explained that on the 18h June 2012 an application was received for a review of the Premises Licence in respect of Atlantix, formerly known as Flux, 94 Bridge Street, Northampton. The application was submitted by Fire Protection Officer Ian Grieve representing Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service and relates to a series of compliance issues surrounding Fire Safety regulations and had been submitted on the ground of Public Safety.

 

Application for the Review

 

Mr Richards – Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service explained that following a tragic event at a Licensed Premises in Northampton, the Fire Authority had looked at a large number of licensed premises, specifically those with large occupancy levels. He explained that on the 2nd December 2011 Fire Officers had visited the premises where it was found that there were no fire safety documents. A generic letter was circulated to licensed premises in Northampton which highlighted the needs for fire risk assessments and the necessity to conform to the fire safety legislation. On a subsequent visit to the premises on the 11th May 2012, a Fire Officer gained access to the club and met with Mr Ebulubu who stated that he was the manager of the premises. Mr Ebulubu, when asked, had great difficulties in locating and identifying the Fire Alarm Panel and it was reported that staff training was perceived as being inadequate. It was explained that an Enforcement Notice had been issued on the 25th May 2012 which was due to expire in August 2012.

Mr Richards explained that on the 24th July 2012, he had visited the premises again and had met with the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) – Ms Drummond, where he had been notified that Mr Ebulubu was no longer in employment at the premises and that the premises remained closed. It was noted that since the premises was closed, they would not be fully compliant with Fire Safety as testing procedures could not be carried out fully as they could only be tested once the premises was open and in operation. He stated that significant improvements had been made with regards to Fire Safety and numerous steps had been taken to improve Fire Safety procedures.

Pc Bryan – Northamptonshire Police, commented that he echoed the concerns of the Fire Authority had explained that he had been notified of an event at the premises that was being advertised beyond the licensed hours.  It was reported that once being made aware of this by the Police, Ms Drummond had cancelled the event. Pc Bryan further explained that he had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.