Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

There were none.

The Senior Licensing Enforcement Officer reported that Charlotte Ryan, the applicant, would not be in attendance; in her place were her partner, Mark Atkinson, who had also made a representation, and her father.

Representations by the applicant:

Mr Atkinson explained that he and his partner requested a review of the Premises Licence due to problems surrounding noise, the opening hours of the premises, lighting and customers smoking.

He stated that he and his partner had posted notices to the address on several occasions, asking to keep the noise down; these had all been ignored. He further stated that the noise emanating from the premises increased from 8pm most days and persisted until around 2am. Mr Atkinson referred to comments made at the meeting held on 15^th August when the solicitor representing the Licence Holder commented that the premises rarely, if ever, stayed open until 2am and sold more Turkish tea than alcohol. Mr Atkinson argued that if this was the case then there was no need for the late opening hours. He explained that he and his partner were looking to start a family in the near future; the noise and other issues would not make for an ideal family home.

Mr Atkinson stated that he had to keep the windows to his property closed due to customers of the premises smoking, as well as having to regularly sweep outside of his home to clear the litter left by customers.

Regarding the proposed extension to the rear of the premises, Mr Atkinson stated that this would flood his property with light late at night.

In response to questions, Mr Atkinson explained that loud noise was generally worse during the week than on weekends, with the exception of every Sunday. He stated that any soundproofing that had been installed was insufficient. He further stated that the proposed relocation of the smoking area would still cause him and his partner problems as it would remain close to his property.

Miss Ryan’s father explained that when football matches were played on the TV at the premises the noise increased, noting that the TV was hung on a wall shared between the 2 properties.

Representations by the Licence Holder

John Birch, representing the Licence Holder, addressed the Committee. He advised that should planning permission for the extension be approved, lighting should no longer be a problem for Miss Ryan and Mr Atkinson, and a new smoking area would also be considered following approval of the application. He acknowledged that the Licence Holder could be better in terms of housekeeping, however stated that he had not heard of issues relating to the TV before but that it could be moved and soundproofing improved. Mr Birch explained that there had been no “coming together” of the Licence Holder and local residents but would look to change this, should the planning application be approved.

In response to questions, Mr Birch stated that nobody at the premises had seen any letters or notices that Mr Atkinson maintained  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.