The Licensing Panel will be considering an application by Mary Galer for a new premises licence for Nappers Store, High Street, Goring-on-Thames. The application has been called in for a decision by the panel after receiving representations from residents. Please note that this summary is based on the documents provided for the meeting and may not reflect what is actually discussed or decided at the meeting.

Application for a premises licence for Nappers Store, High Street, Goring-on-Thames

Mary Galer has applied for a new premises licence to sell alcohol at Nappers Store between the hours of 9:00 and 19:00 Sunday to Tuesday and 9:00 and 23:00 Wednesday to Saturday. The report from the council's Licensing Officer Ashley Peachey indicates that the application has received no representations from responsible authorities but has received 19 representations from other persons.

Two representations, from Evan and Amy Holland¹ of Nappers Cottage and Virginia McMurtrie of REDACTED, High Street, Goring, objected to the application. They both raised concerns about noise, anti-social behaviour, crime and public safety, with the Hollands stating that, >Even though the sale of alcohol is proposed to end at 11 pm, cleanup activities could extend the disturbance to around 12:30 am. This would subject us to noise for four consecutive days each week, which is unacceptable in a residential setting.

Ms McMurtrie was concerned about the potential for sleep disturbance from noise from the premises, stating that, >The stores have a parking space behind the shop which is 18 feet from the external glazed door from my bedroom, with a Velux rooflight window also facing this space. Sleep disturbance on such a regular basis is surely antisocial.

Ms McMurtrie also noted that, >Goring is already extremely well provided for in terms of access to alcohol.

The other 17 representations, from Sarah Richards, Dr Trevor Long and Dr Nicola Swan, Imogen Uttley, Alex Horwill, Patricia Williams, Mike Reed, Amanda Dekić, Dr Louise Axon, Bryan Urbick and Abel Westerhof, Olivia Jones, Steven Gozdz, Juliette Spencer, Steve Law, Sally Wicks, Emma Francis, Sarah Collins and Ron Bridle, expressed support for the application. The representation from Dr Trevor Long and Dr Nicola Swan expressed support for Ms Galer on the basis of her previous experience running The Miller of Mansfield, stating that, >One only has to look at the record of Mrs Galer who, with her husband, held the licence at the Miller of Mansfield Public House in Goring for approximately 8 years. In this time, they took the pub / hotel from being run down, and frankly a place that attracted the sort of people who may be associated with these problems, to one which was a central highlight in our community providing a very high quality venue and not attracting its previous clientele.

The Hollands provided the council with additional information about their concerns, including a building layout showing the location of their bedroom above Nappers Store. They also highlighted a section of their objection to a planning application for the same property where they stated that, >The existing timber floor between the commercial unit and dwelling offers little sound insulation to the bedroom/living area above, and as such the conversion of the retail unit to a wine bar could result in very high levels of noise in the dwelling above.

Ms Galer provided responses to the Hollands and Ms McMurtrie. In her response to the Hollands, Ms Galer attempted to address their concerns about noise, deliveries and parking, stating that she would:

• Open for shorter hours than the previous business
• Arrange for deliveries outside of peak times.
• Clearly illustrate parking options to customers.

In her response to Ms McMurtrie, Ms Galer attempted to address her concerns about deliveries, parking and noise, stating that she would:

• Arrange for deliveries outside of peak times.
• Clearly illustrate parking options to customers.
• Work with the community to minimise noise.

The Hollands submitted a response to Ms Galer stating that, >We received your response to our objection today and unfortunately, we did not feel that it adequately addressed the comprehensive concerns that we had raised.

They also noted that they had not been consulted about the application and that, >The first time any of this came to our attention was a notice of licence application stuck in the window of what was formally Virgo Beauty when we came home one evening.

The Hollands raised concerns about noise, the lack of sound insulation between the properties and the fact that the property is Grade II listed and stated that, >Our fears have been compounded lately by the works that have started at the stores without proper planning permission.

The report to the panel included a list of proposed conditions for the licence, drawn up from the applicant’s operating schedule and agreed with the applicant. These include:

• Keeping a register of incidents that impact on the licensing objectives.
• Installing and maintaining CCTV.
• Restricting the capacity of the premises.
• Ensuring glassware is collected regularly.
• Ceasing alcohol sales 30 minutes before closing.
• Displaying notices asking customers to leave quietly.
• Not using the external areas of the premises for eating and drinking.
• Only admitting under 18s to the premises if they are accompanied by an adult.
• Devising and implementing a Challenge 25 policy.
• Training staff in the law relating to the sale of alcohol.
• Maintaining a refusal register.

The Licensing Officer's report noted that the panel has the power to:

• Grant the licence as applied for.
• Grant the licence after modifying any conditions.
• Exclude from the scope of the licence any of the licensable activities to which the application relates.
• Refuse to specify a person in the licence as the premises supervisor.
• Reject the application.