Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Councillor Sargeant advised that the application site was in his ward and that he had previously visited the premises, but not when the applicants owned it.

It was noted that one Member had sent apologies to the meeting. The Chair asked the applicant if she was happy to proceed with 2 Members; she confirmed that she was.

The Senior Licensing Enforcement Officer reported that a new premises application was received on 18^th June 2018 from Karen Anne Hovland. The final day for representations was 17^th July 2018. During this period, 1 representation was received under the licensing objective of “prevention of crime and disorder”. After considering the application, Northamptonshire Police suggested some conditions which the applicant agreed to attach, should the licence be granted.

Mrs Hovland addressed the Committee and explained that following consultation with local residents, she found out there was a need for a place that people could go for a quiet drink; the adjacent premises put more emphasis on food. That being the case, Mrs Hovland stated that the 2 businesses would complement each other well since she planned on offering wines, bottled beers and cocktails, making the premises more of a social wine bar.

Mrs Hovland explained that she was in the process of obtaining her personal licence and that CCTV and alarm systems had been installed on the premises.

Speaking in reference to the representation received, Mrs Hovland stated her belief that many of the issues were caused by young people; she and her staff were aware of, and would be enforcing “Challenge 25” as well as a 7pm cut-off for under-18s, so did not anticipate any youth-related problems.

Mrs Hovland confirmed that she was happy to include the conditions recommended by the Police and stated that it was her hope to run a business that would not disrupt local residents.

In response to questions, the Sub-Committee heard that there would be no music played on the patio area. They also heard that Mrs Hovland had spoken to the residents living closest to the premises who had no concerns around potential noise. However, she was considering putting up notices on the patio reminding customers to be considerate of neighbours.

The Solicitor explained to Members their options and pointed out, following comments made by the applicant, that Members had powers to impose conditions in relation to opening times, could vary the times suggested in the application and further explained the position in relation to staff holding personal licences. He also noted that it was for the Sub-Committee to attach the Police conditions, should they feel them appropriate.

Members retired at 10:48 to make a decision.

The meeting reconvened at 11:11.

RESOLVED:

The Licensing Sub-committee carefully considered the following: 

·         The application received from Ms. Hovland (“the Applicant”);

·         The representation received from an occupier of nearby premises;

·         The report prepared for the hearing;

·         Oral representations from the Applicant;

The Sub-Committee was comprised of two members and, before proceeding with the hearing, asked the Applicant if she agreed to proceed with two members.  The Applicant agreed that the hearing should proceed.  The person who made the representation was not present.

The Sub-committee received  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.