Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Senior Licensing Officer outlined the purpose of the hearing and explained that on 28 August  2013 an application was received for a Premises Licence in respect of Fresh, 19A/21 Abington Square, Northampton NN1 4AE to enable the provision of late night refreshment and the sale of alcohol between the hours of 05.00 and 23.00Sunday –Thursday and 05.00 and 24.00 hours on Saturday and Sunday.

An objection to the application had been received from Northamptonshire Police on 4 September 2013 on the grounds of the Prevention of Crime and Disorder as the applicant had not indicated how he would meet this and the other licensing objectives.

The Chair stated that he knew the applicant as a fellow member of the Conservative Party but had no personal relationship with him.  The Solicitor confirmed that this did not prevent the Chair from sitting on the Sub-Committee.

Application for Premises Licence

The applicant stated that he had been a former Borough Councillor, a former member of the Northamptonshire Police Authority for 6-8 years and the former owner of a shop selling specialist food and drink in Sheep Street.  He stated that the application was for a delicatessen to sell high quality, specialist food and drink from European countries to offer more choice for the people of Northampton.  There would be no consumption on the premises of any of the products sold by the shop, which would be sold to take home.  People would not be allowed to drink on the premises or as they left the shop.  There would be CCTV cameras in the shop and supervision of the premises.  There would always be someone present on the premises at all times the shop was open.

There were other shops selling specialist foods and drink across the road from the shop but this shop would allow people to buy specialist food and drink without the need to cross busy roads to get to those shops.

The applicant stated that he had been a former licensee in Northampton for over forty years in Sheep Street and had the best reputation in the county.

Questions to the Applicant

In response to questions from the Sub Committee and the respondent the applicant and the personal licence holder stated that:

• There would be no consumption on the premises of items bought in the shop.  All items would be sold to take home.
•  The hours applied for were as set out in the report and alcohol would be sold at all times the shop was open.
• Alcohol sold in the shop would be sold according to the brew, not the strength and would usually be low alcohol for consumption with food.  There would be no sales of cheap alcohol.
• The applicant confirmed that no hot refreshments would be supplied after 23:00 hours on the premises.  He agreed to withdraw section I of the application form relating to this aspect as it did not apply to his application.
• Mr Cander was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.