Licensing Panel - Thursday, 16th May, 2024 1.00 pm
May 16, 2024 View on council website Watch video of meetingTranscript
to the people here. Item number one on the agenda, apologies for absence. Perhaps I ought to mention that Councillor MARC Walker, who's the Chair of the License Committee, couldn't come today, so that's why I'm chairing it, but I'll introduce myself in a moment. I don't have any declaration of interest to mention either of my colleagues have a declaration of interest. Thank you. Minutes of the previous meeting, which are held on the 18th of January, rather bizarrely none of the panel here were actually at that meeting, although it does state that I was, but I wasn't. So the three Councillors who were there are not present, so I understand that the minutes will be referred to the next full meeting of the licensing committee when they will be ratified there, and hopefully some of the people at the last meeting will be there, so we can forget about that. Getting on to today's business, let's start with some introductions. I'm Councillor Dave Jackson. I'm the Vice Chair of the License Committee. I represent the Barton's Ward. Would my colleagues like to introduce themselves? I'm Edward James, also on this panel, and I'm Councillor and Elvis Scott and Philkins. And I'm Andrew Lyon, Councillor for Whitney Central Ward. Thank you, and I wonder if our representatives from the local authority would like to introduce themselves please. So I'm Andrea Thomas. I'm a licensing officer for West Oxford University District Council. I'm Helen Dantal. I am Interim Head of Legal Services and Solicitor in Legal Visor to the panel. Finally, could the applicant introduce themselves? Hello, yes. I'm Will Robinson. I'm Solicitor for the applicant, and I'll be given the opening presentation. Hello, I'm James Gama. I'm Director and DPS at the ball. Hello, I'm Phil Windsor, and I'm one of the directors of the ball as well. May I just ask you to repeat your names so I can jot them down because my memory is not brilliant. I'm Will Robinson. Will Robinson. Thank you, Mr Robinson. James Gama. And Philip Windsor. And I'm Dan Varnier. I run operations for James and Phil's pubs. Thank you very much. Let me just briefly run through how this meeting will pan out. First of all, the licensing officer will present her case. And then we will move on to the other people who wish to speak and the applicant will put their case first. And then I understand that we have Mr Leech to speak. And also, I believe we have Mr Pickard speaking. Is that correct in support of the application? Am I correct? Thank you. So that's the order that we'll hear. And then after each person has spoken, members of the panel, we can ask the questions of what you've said. And also, the applicant will also have a chance to ask questions of the other speakers, but have to do it through the chair. And then I think that's about all I need to say. Then the three of us will quietly disappear and make our decision. Hopefully, that won't be a lengthy process, but we'll see. Okay. Thank you. Sorry, just a short question on the procedure at this stage. Will we have the opportunity to sum up at the end after everyone's spoken? Apparently, yes. Sorry. I didn't realise that. No, not at all. No, thank you. Just wanted to check. Thank you. Let me just write that down on here. Right. So, I think we're ready to start with the licensing of should presenting the case. Thank you, Chair. This is an application for a new premises licence made by the Bull Trial Green Limited for the Bullock Trial Green Street, Sheep Street in Trial Green. The applicant is represented today by Mr William Robinson of Thomas and Thomas Partners. The matter is before you today due to representations being submitted by members of the public and Councillor Lefman. These are attached to Annex C and in 3.2 of my report. Following a submission of a revised plan and updated proposed conditions, Mr Paul Honey, who is number seven in Annex C of the representations made has withdrawn his representation. Councillor Charbury Town Council have also responded to this submission that was made by the applicant and this is also detailed in my report. There have been 12 letters of support from local residents and businesses. I would like to update Section 3.1 of my report for the environmental pollution team have been working with the applicant and they have agreed to the proposed conditions in Annex E along with the new noise management plan which has been given out to the committee today and also to the Mr Leach who has made a representation. May I now draw your attention to the licensing policy that states the licence and authority will only apply terms and conditions to licences to promote one or more of the licence and objectives and that they are relevant to the individual circumstance of this application. They include the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, prevention of public nuisance and protection of children from harm. The licence and authority will always seek to ensure that the conditions are necessary, proportionate and reasonable and will avoid the use of conditions which duplicate other legal requirements that apply to an employer or operator of the premises. The licence and authority will consider every application on its individual merits with regard to the statement of licence in policy. It will seek to balance the needs of the local community and commercial premises and activities against those who may be concerned about the adverse impacts for the licence premises. The options for consideration by the committee by the panel today are to grant the application as requested or to grant the application subject to conditions such that are necessary to promote the licence and objectives or to refuse the application in whole or in part where it is necessary to promote the licence and objectives. I have nothing further to add at this time. Thank you. Thank you. We think the applicant would like to present the case now. Thank you for keeping the on track. Has anybody got any questions for the licence officer at this point? Okay, thank you. Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Andrew. May I start by thank you for being here today and also to Ms. Thomas and indeed Ms. Garrett in environmental protection for all their work on this. They have done a great job, not least putting up with my annoying emails for the last few weeks. Thank you very much. I propose to give a brief introduction to the premises and the applicant and then talk through to the background of the application itself, the representations and how they have been addressed. Before opening up the team to questions, any questions you would like to ask. Of course, if you have any questions as we go along, don't hesitate to interrupt me, of course. You have the papers before you that Andrea has mentioned, you're pleased here. I won't be seeking to repeat everything in those or going through everything, but I will seek to sort of highlight and bring out some of the key points and also provide some additional colour and context to those. So this application concerns the bull on sheep street. It sits right at the centre of child brie and has done for hundreds of years. It's a pub restaurant in and has ten guest bedrooms and importantly, for this application, it has a beautiful and quite large garden to its rear. Phil and James, who have introduced themselves, who grew up nearby, have had the privilege of putting something of a childhood to ambition and dream in taking over the pub and reopening it for the first time under their management last summer, fully. That followed an extensive renovation project in the first half of 2023 and that they have done so and has been operating to date under an existing premises licence that is in place and authorises as I will come on to the use of the garden at the back. So why are we here today before you? Well, it has more recently become apparent through interaction with the council that the licence plans on record for the existing licence do not or rather have not been updated by previous operators of the pub to include or authorise the use of the bar survey in the garden for alcohol sales. So having learned of that, the team recently have taken the survey out of use entirely and have instead, for the time being, been serving people only by way of off sale from inside the pub. As I have said, as is permitted under the current licence, so the current licence does not prohibit use of the garden at all. It allows people to be out there eating and drinking and for off sales to be made from inside the pub until 11 o'clock every day. Before you today, asking to replace that licence and regularise this discrepancy that has been identified with updated, modernised plans that show the full extent of the garden and the building, including the guest bedrooms on the first and second floor, and importantly, with permission for alcohol sales from that bar survey in the garden, but still only until 11pm, under the same terms of the existing licence, so there is no expansion of the times or the extent to which people can be in the garden. It is just asking for a change in the permission or rather more flexibility in the permission in the way that the garden can be served at the pub, so rather than having everything have to be done by way of one bar sort of inside, we are asking to have authorisation to use both bars and serve the garden the same way up until 11 o'clock for the same cut off. The hours and activities applied for in the application otherwise match the existing licence entirely, so it may be worth just turning to those quickly, you know, in your reports back on page 8, you will see there is supply of alcohol, late night refreshment and recorded music indoors only and opening hours. I do not propose to go through the detail but of course any questions you have, but just I just want to know that those all precisely match the existing licence and there is no change requested in those relation to those at all. As to representations as you may have seen and Andrea has pointed out, there have been some that have been submitted. The first point I would like to note is that environmental protection has suggested two conditions in their initial representation and those were both agreed back in late April when a letter was sent out to residents after the consultation period had ended. And those two conditions are the requirement for a noise management plan as Andrea mentioned, and that plan is needing to be signed off by the licensing authority and once that plan has been agreed and put in place as it now has been, any changes in the future to that plan will need to be again be signed off by the council. So it sort of once is in place, it is tied to the licence and fixed and absent further authorisation. And also there is a second condition reaffirming the point about the use of the outside area must stop at 11 o'clock. So both of those two conditions have been agreed and also Ms Garrett, as I have mentioned, is very kindly we have sort of been liaising with her in the run out to this hearing and we have our agreed to the terms of the noise management plan which I will cut the details of which I will come on to in a minute. But that's it. Ms Garrett has been very kind in signing off on that in advance. You will have seen though as Ms Thomas mentioned, there is something of a split in the representations from local residents. There are a number who are very supportive of the application, but also there are those who express some concerns about the effect and the intentions behind the application. And principally you will have seen their focus on the potential for disturbance from music outside in the garden and in particular a worry that the application was seeking an intensification or an extension of the permission for music outside. And say wanting to be very clear on this and provide reassurance, the team has sent a letter to the residents by Ms Thomas in April. That letter is a page 57 of the report, it might be worth turning to it quickly, but I won't go through all the details of it. But all that letter did was just clarified that there was no wish to use any additional permission for music outside. And actually to sort of make that really clear and unambiguous, that's a proposed amending the red line in the plans to make this clear so that the red line only goes around the bar survey itself. And it's worth turning to page 62 in the report just to see what I mean by that. So you'll see there, it's sort of on its side, but if you turn it so the rectangular box is to the top of the page, you'll see that's the bar survey that I'm referring to with the red line around its own perimeter, the rest of the garden not encompassed by a red line, and then the red line that's around the broader building, that's the inside of the building in relation to which sort of the authorisation for indoor activities applies. And the effect of that is that it permits, if you were minded to grant it with the plans on those terms, it will permit off sales of alcohol to be made from that bar in the same way that off sales of alcohol are made from the bar inside the main building. But it will not carry with it any implicit summarisation for music that might follow from the live music act and the deregulation that applies under that, which we'll be familiar with. And also importantly, as you've seen in the letter, it allows because it sort of sidesteps the live music act for the rest of the garden, it means that the team have been able to offer additional conditions in relation to music in the garden. And those are conditions that would, if they're within the red line, would be disapplied by the live music act, which sort of applies to say when you're within the red line of licence premises, you're not allowed to have, basically, you're not allowed to have conditions that apply to music before 11 o'clock. So moving the red line this way has allowed the team to offer additional conditions and assurance on that. So it would be good to turn to those for a second, and that's on page 61, just the single page before then. So you'll see there, conditions one and two are the two conditions that proposed by environmental protection that I referred to earlier that we should have been agreed. And then scanning down, this conditions three and four, the first of which covers any recorded music played outside through speakers. And this is an important point to note on this because there isn't any authorisation for recorded music outside as a licenceable activity, that's only indoors, it's only applied for indoors in the same way as the existing licence. Any recorded music needs to be entirely incidental and background to what's going on in the garden, needs to be people have eating and drinking in the garden, and as you'll be familiar with incidental music in the same way that incidental music in a shop playing is not a licenceable activity. So that's sort of the first threshold, even to be even be allowed to do it in the first place. But then in addition, what this condition is saying to ensure and provide insurance, so that will be the case going forward. There will be a sound limiter device imposed on that, any speakers used outside. And Ms. Garrett, or one of her colleagues from the environmental protection team, will come in and set what the correct level of that is, in order to ensure noise sensitive premises near by aren't sort of affected by nuisance, and that it is set at a level that it is incidental music. So yeah, that's what that condition does, and I should flag, but the drafting of that condition changed slightly from the original letter. And the reason for that is because one of the residents in particular who lives right next to the garden, to the south, who originally submitted a representation, expressing some concerns, got in touch with us because we passed on my details. And as part of that, he wanted more reassurance about what level the limiter would be set at. So that's why we've tweaked it to say that the environmental officer is the one that will come down and set that level. And he was happy to withdraw his, that was happy that he addressed his concerns and has withdrawn his representation on that basis, and that's what it doesn't, that one actually doesn't appear in the back of the tour because it was withdrawn a sort of a few, a couple of weeks ago. And then on condition four, this concerns live music in the garden, which is just something that's offered occasionally, or has been occasionally in the past, and the team had in mind that it's something that if the committee are happy with it, and the conditions could be agreed that it would be something they could continue to offer on an occasional basis. And, but subject to the control that it will only be within the window three p.m. to eight p.m. on Saturday or Sunday. So that's not saying that's going to happen every week. What it's saying is that if to the extent that something is booked in the garden, and that has to be in that window, it can't be, it's not in the week or earlier, or later at night. Just picking up on that, it's probably a good moment to jump to the noise management plan, which I've referred to. So if you've got that in front of you, this is a document that overlays the license conditions, as I've said, and talks through the operating policies for the premises and same, we've discussed this with Ms. Garrett further since the letter was submitted, and you'll see down there, shown in track changes, the additional measure that on top of the two sort of license conditions that I've described, there's also a commitment that this will only be take place on a maximum of 15 days per year. So it's within those windows on Saturday and Sunday, and a maximum of 15 days per year. And off the back of those, the conditions and the management plan, as I say, both Ms. Garrett has been happy to confirm she's happy with that, but also three of the residents who live close by who had expressed concerns have been happy to withdraw their representations, and also you'll have seen in the pack that the Charbury Town Council have confirmed that their concerns have been addressed as well. And I should say, the sort of the limit of having 15 days per year was also, the team had seen Mr. Leach's some further comments about perfectly valid questions about frequency of events, and well, if it was going to be on Saturday and Sunday, how, what assurance was there about frequency and how often that would actually be, and so they were happy to commit to that, sort of, to address that point. Just to touch on a point briefly about the relevance and the importance of the bar survey, which I'm sure the team will be able to, if you have questions we have to talk about in more detail, of course, than I will, but just to note that it is not something that's sort of asked for lightly as a nice to have for the business. I think it's fair to say that it's really quite central to the operation of the ball, and given the layout of the premises. And the reason for that is that since the bar is inside is quite small, and the busier trading times, say, in the summer, on nicer days of the year, it can lead to large queues inside and bunching up with customers and sort of create sort of more pressure on staff and potentially more issues of customer management than there otherwise would be. So having service balanced across the two points, as I've described, is something that's important for the business, but actually also something that's helpful for managing the licence in the objectives in itself, because it promotes and enables good customer management, and that's something that's recognised, as you'll see, and I won't read them all out, but recognised in a number of the supporting representations, who sort of make comments that along the lines of, you know, having the bar authorised will make the queues inside much smaller, and it will make much more sense when it's busy, and it will take a huge amount of pressure off the inside bar, and so yeah, I won't read them all out, because you'll have them before you, but just to note that that is a point that's sort of recognised in the reps themselves. And I've come to head towards a close from this opening presentation, but having said all that, while the team are sort of thrilled and honoured to have support in buying from a number of members of the local community, I think they would also acknowledge that on first opening, there was an element of learning the sensitivities of operating within the town, within Charbury, and the proximity of certain houses and gardens, and the need to be sensitive to different people's preferences and tolerances, and I think they would say, and I would recognise that, I think, and indeed, as some of the supporting representations are recognised, that is a process that has happened and they have learnt, so I think I will just take you to one of the supporting reps, that's Mr Bradbury at page 50 of the report, and he observes that he has observed that as a neighbour and a customer who lives immediately adjacent to the builds of the south of the garden, how the operating team have taken on board concerns and tried to address them, I believe they are happy to discuss the concerns going forward and accommodate them as best they can, the bull is in incredibly good hands and we as a community are very blessed to have a place like this on our doorstep, they attract trade from all over, but are still able to be a great local, please support this application. So I'll wrap it up there and open up the team for questions, but just to say, as I close, I think I hope you'll have seen in the steps I've set out, that they are now asking for a licence that will actually be an improvement on the existing licence, both for the business and in the way that it will enable them to operate and recognise and reflect the position as it has been before they took over the pub, but also will be an improvement for the licensing objectives because following extensive consultation and consideration with residents and their responsible authorities, they've come up with a balanced and measured set of conditions and plan and a plan that address the concerns raised and will bind and be enforceable on the licence going forward. And yeah, I'll leave it there and open up the team for any questions for myself, of course. Thank you, Mr Robison, and before I invite questions for what you have said, may I just apologise that I forgot to mention, we've got representatives from Environmental Health first today. I didn't want to exclude you from that, but thank you very much for your presence. Obviously, if we need to ask you anything, we might be allowed to do that, is that correct? Okay. Thank you. I don't really have a particular question myself, the one I was going to ask, I think you've answered anyway, but if I could just sum up what you said just so I'm not having a senior moment, the live music between three o'clock and eight o'clock on a Saturday or a Sunday, not any other day of the week, and only fifteen Saturdays or Sundays throughout the year. If I understood that correctly, who will monitor how many days you've had during the year? Well, that will be more enforced, but the actual team will be strictly adhering to that. It will be, I'm not suggesting that Miss Garage and the team, but the responses will be down every weekend. Oh, sorry, built into the plan, as you'd have seen, the provisions that always have a manager on duty with a telephone number and logging any calls in complaints, and that's reflected also with a condition on the license. So that will, it will be anything, it will be feedback in relation to that, will be logged at the premises, but also, of course, I'm sure to the extent anyone has feedback on what I'm not saying, it's a burden or an obligation on residents to do so, but they have, you know, feeding back to the environmental team as well, but to say it's an enforceable condition that will be strictly adhered to and the team will be monitoring. And if I ask the question, they will have a log of all the events they've had for the year and be able to speak to those, and so it takes us, for example, if there's a complaint about a particular day or a question about a particular day that comes through to the environmental team, the team will have a record and log of what event was on that day and what number of event that was in the year and so on, so does that answer your question? Thank you, yeah, don't want to sound a bit nitpicky, but so the team will have a list of the 15 dates. When we talk about a year, this may be a stupid question, is it January to January or is it from when the new license is granted, if it is granted, in other words, from the end of this month, is it 15 within the calendar year? I think, as the condition is drafted, it would be 15 within the calendar year. I assume that was the case, but I just wanted to make a double sure. I mean, it would be within your gift to sort of, sort of, reflect the fact that the licenses have only granted halfway through the year, but, yeah, it will be calendar year as drafted. Thank you for the presentation, I had loads of questions, actually, but you've answered pretty much every one of them, but you just raised one, and it may or may not be relevant. You said it was way back in your introduction, it's come to light that alcohol sales were not permitted in the car. Did that come to light via some complaint, or did it come to light via these guys noticing it? No, that's an entirely fair question. No, it came to light through the council being, so I think, resident contact in the council asking the question, we don't know exactly who that was, but, and then the council getting in touch with the team and raising the issue that they, actually, the plans on record didn't cover the outside bar. The question that raises, then, was how come the team didn't know that? The answer is because, actually, in the, in the license, as issues, the current issues license, doesn't have the plans themselves contained within it, it just refers to plans as they were submitted when the original application for the license was made. So the team, the license, as it was transferred to them last year, at that stage, they didn't have plans attached, and it's, so as following this interaction with the council, those plans have been dug out and identified that, yeah, they haven't been updated for many years, in fact, by any previous operator, so that's how it came to light if it answers your question. Super, can I just follow up? Yeah, of course. So at the moment it came to light, then, then, conditions were complied by, and alcohol sales outside stopped at that point. Absolutely, yes. At that point. So towards the end of last year in December, whether it was one notice of it, and yes, alcohol sales have been stopped from the bar ever since then, and, as I've mentioned, they've continued, people have been in the garden eating and drinking, but it's all been exclusively by way of off sale from the bar inside the pub, which is covered by the existing plans and the existing license. So, yeah, the whole of this year, the whole of this year, there have been no, the bar salary in the garden has been completely out of use of alcohol sales, it hasn't been used about alcohol sales at all since that. Thank you. No, thank you. No question. Thank you. Just to, again, I should have said this at the beginning, I apologise, Mr Leach, I'm going to call on you, speaking shortly. If you could remember to switch your microphone on when you're speaking, and then off when you're not speaking, and then the camera will pick you up and pick up whoever else is speaking. Thank you. So, Mr Leach, if you would like to present your opinions now, we will very much... Okay, well, thank you very much to the Councillors, and thank you very much to your for arranging this. I'd like to say that the process has been very clear, the cooperation has been very helpful, and that includes the applicants and openness by all parties has been commendable. I just wanted to say that, you know, to begin with that there is recognition for the efforts that have been made by the applicants to be responsive to concerns, and that's appreciated, and my comments are nothing to do with the extension of the licence application for a survey per say, that's not concern. I just feel...I also feel that it would be worth just explaining that I and my family have lived in Calgary for 25 years, that we enjoy a peaceful environment and a quiet environment, and that noise is perceived and physically, perceptibly so, to have increased in Strawberry over the last 25 years, and the ball is not the only source of that by any means, but other sources of noise are contained and are occasional. And so the concern about this application is really as follows. It's fundamentally about noise, and specifically about music, and music travels in a way that other forms of noise don't, and I think that needs to be recognised, though, suggest by the Councillors, and therefore the efforts to reassure and so on, that it will be kept down are appreciated, but not compelling. There is concern in the community, I'm personally, I don't like the reference to community, because I think it's a weasel word, which is often adduced in order to make arguments clear I did it myself in international development for 30 years, but who is the community? Now, some of the members of the community have been articulate about their support, and some have been myself included articulate about our concerns. There are plenty of others who are also concerned about unnecessarily intrusive noise in Strawberry, and a concern about the attachment of music to the consumption of alcohol. It really isn't proven that you have to have music in order to consume alcohol or any other form of liquid. So the concern specifically, and to be as clear as possible, is about the application of an extension of the licence of the garden for a survey and alcohol, but with this the playing of music amplified non-amplified for prolonged periods. There's no consensus in the community, I would suggest that the need for music, that there is a need for music in the garden, the consensus seems to be amongst those in support that the licence should be extended to the garden, but I think it's not the case that there is necessarily consensus about the playing of music in the garden, I think that if a licence is granted, therefore I want to say this, that there must be strict and enforceable limits, and I urge the Council to place clear restrictions about the time and about the volume of the music. Now, efforts have been made and the responsiveness to the concern about an independent noise consultant in reference to an environmental officer is appreciated, but who's going to monitor this and who's really going to be sure? My mother and other elderly residents live in the playing close adjacent to the ball. The noise does travel and it will be, it almost certainly will be obtrusive unless it's very, very clearly limited. So I want to conclude by saying that I think that the responsiveness to complaints needs to be a condition, sensitivity and responsiveness has been commendable here the two. I think that appropriate restrictions would need to extend a requirement for that, such that if there are complaints then the management of the ball does take heed and acts on it and responds to it. I think the arguments that have been put up, frankly I still find opaque, it doesn't strike me that the perimeter and all the other stuff is very clear and I think therefore there needs to be clarity about explanation to anybody seeking clarification. And specifically with respect to the live music, three o'clock till eight o'clock on a Saturday and a Sunday even if it's just for 15 years, a 15 days a year is a long time on a Saturday and a Sunday. I mean we don't get much in the way of rest and peace but it's very, very noticeable if you're a resident in the centre of Philadelphia as I am that you know when there is no noise and when there is no traffic it is a very, very quiet and very peaceful place and it really isn't once the noise gets going. And to illustrate that you know there's the problems about traffic in the town but that's not relevant to this application or my submission about this but it's just indicative of just how sensitive an environment it is to noise increases. So in summary what I would say is that if a licence is to be granted then we would like, I would like to see strictly enforceable limits to what can be played and I don't still then understand or accept the need for the playing of music and the playing of music and the music. Anything remotely, technological, it baffles me completely. No that won't work because by some ways of technology the camera homes in on the microphone. 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I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. 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Transcript
Summary
The meeting was primarily focused on the application for a new premises license for The Bull pub in Charlbury. The discussion included the introduction of the panel and representatives, the presentation of the licensing officer's case, the applicant's case, and concerns from a local resident.
The most significant topic was the application for a new premises license for The Bull pub on Sheep Street in Charlbury. The applicant, represented by solicitor Will Robinson, sought to update the existing license to include alcohol sales from a bar in the garden area. The application was prompted by the discovery that the current license did not cover this area. The applicant emphasized that the new license would not extend the hours or activities beyond what was already permitted but would regularize the use of the garden bar. The applicant also proposed conditions to address noise concerns, including a noise management plan and a sound limiter for outdoor speakers. The application received mixed responses from local residents, with some supporting it and others expressing concerns about potential noise disturbances.
Councillor Dave Jackson, Vice Chair of the License Committee, chaired the meeting in the absence of Councillor Marc Walker. The panel included Councillors Edward James, Elvis Scott, and Andrew Lyon. Representatives from the local authority included Andrea Thomas, Licensing Officer, and Helen Dantal, Interim Head of Legal Services. The applicant's team included Will Robinson, James Gama (Director and DPS), Phil Windsor (Director), and Dan Varnier (Operations Manager).
The licensing officer, Andrea Thomas, presented the case, noting that the application was due to representations from the public and Councillor Lefman. She mentioned that some representations had been withdrawn following the submission of a revised plan and updated conditions. The environmental pollution team had agreed to the proposed conditions, including a new noise management plan.
Will Robinson, representing the applicant, provided a detailed presentation, explaining the background of the application and addressing concerns raised by local residents. He emphasized that the new license would not expand the times or activities permitted but would allow for more flexible use of the garden bar. He also highlighted the importance of the garden bar for the business and customer management. Robinson addressed noise concerns by proposing conditions such as a sound limiter for outdoor speakers and limiting live music in the garden to specific hours on weekends, with a maximum of 15 days per year.
Local resident Mr. Leach expressed concerns about noise, particularly from music in the garden. He acknowledged the efforts made by the applicants to address concerns but emphasized the need for strict and enforceable limits on music volume and duration. He also questioned the necessity of music for the consumption of alcohol and highlighted the sensitivity of the local environment to noise increases.
The meeting concluded with the panel preparing to make a decision on the application, considering the arguments and concerns presented.
Attendees
- Andrew Lyon
- David Jackson
- Edward James
- Sandra Simpson
- Andrea Thomas
- Christine Elsasser
Documents
- Annex D Letters of Support
- Agenda frontsheet 16th-May-2024 13.00 Licensing Panel agenda
- Annex B Aerial Plan
- Public reports pack 16th-May-2024 13.00 Licensing Panel reports pack
- Annex B Plans
- Final Draft Minutes Licensing Panel Committee 18012024
- Licensing Officer Report 1
- Annex A Application Form
- Annex C Objections
- Printed minutes 16th-May-2024 13.00 Licensing Panel minutes