The Licensing Sub-Committee of Leeds City Council is scheduled to hold a meeting on Tuesday 17 December 2024 at 10.00 AM in Civic Hall, Leeds. The meeting will discuss an application to vary a premises licence, a report on Cumulative Impact Areas within Leeds, and a number of minor procedural points.

Application to vary a Premises Licence for Chicken Stop

The most significant item on the agenda is an application to vary a premises licence for Chicken Stop, located at 92 Queens Road, Headingley, Leeds. The application requests the following variations:

• Extending the hours for Late Night Refreshment each Sunday by an additional 30 minutes, until 02:00 hours.
• Removing the licensable activity of Sale by Retail of Alcohol.
• Opening the premises to members of the public from 11:00 hours to 02:00 hours every day.
• Removing conditions 12, 13, and 44 on the licence in relation to alcohol sales as they would no longer be necessary if the application is successful.
• Removing conditions 45 and 46, which restrict the provision of late-night refreshment to ‘off the premises’ only and by telephone order after 23:00.

The application has attracted a representation from a local resident who is opposed to the application on the grounds of anti-social behaviour and public nuisance.

The applicant has provided information to the Sub-Committee for consideration. The report prepared for the meeting states that:

No additional measures have been offered to promote the licensing objectives.

The premises is located within the Cumulative Impact Area for Hyde Park. The report explains that:

Cumulative impact means the potential impact on the promotion of the licensing objectives due to a significant number of licensed premises concentrated in one area.

Applicants for variations to licences within Cumulative Impact Areas are required to identify the steps they intend to take to ensure that granting the variation would not contribute to the existing impact.

The report directs Members to paragraph 7.44 of the Statement of Licensing Policy, which provides examples of how an applicant might demonstrate that their proposal will have no impact. The report also directs Members to paragraph 7.45 of the Statement of Licensing Policy, which provides examples of matters that the council would not normally consider when making such decisions.

The report also directs Members to paragraphs 6.8 to 6.15 of the Statement of Licensing Policy, which sets out the criteria to be applied to decisions on new applications or variations to extend hours.

A list of premises in the local area and their licensed hours and activities is included in the report pack provided to attendees for the meeting.

Exempt information - Possible Exclusion of the Press and Public

The Sub-Committee will consider whether there is any information likely to be discussed in the meeting that is exempt from public disclosure. If it is decided that some information is exempt, the meeting will be closed to the press and public while that information is discussed.

Cumulative Impact Assessment 2023-25

The meeting will receive a report from the Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory on Cumulative Impact Areas in Leeds. This report, which has been prepared in accordance with Section 5A of the Licensing Act 2003, explains that:

In publishing a cumulative impact assessment, the council is setting down a strong statement of intent about its approach to considering applications for the grant of variation of premises licences or club premises certificates in the areas described.

The report sets out background information on cumulative impact assessments, including the law relating to them, their purpose, and their history in Leeds. It describes the types of evidence used to determine whether an area should be designated as a cumulative impact area. This includes the Alcohol Licensing Data Matrix, which:

…ranks localities against each other through comparing different data sets.

The other source of evidence described is Police Statistics:

The Leeds District Analysis Unit has provided a statistical crime report for each of the assessed areas.

The report analyses the current situation in the following areas that are already designated as cumulative impact areas: City Centre, Headingley, Hyde Park, Armley and Harehills. It also reviews a proposed new cumulative impact area in Holbeck. The report sets out the Council's conclusions and makes recommendations for each of the areas.

In Holbeck, it is recommended that a new cumulative impact policy be adopted, stating that:

It would be inconsistent with the council’s duty to promote the licensing objectives to grant new and variation applications for any premises licence which seeks the sale of alcohol for consumption off the premises at any time.

The report concludes by stating:

This cumulative impact assessment has been carried out in accordance with Section 5A of the Licensing Act 2003. The council intends to publish the cumulative impact assessment because it considers that the number of relevant authorisations in respect of premises described in the assessment, is such that it is likely that it would be inconsistent with the authority's duty to grant any further relevant authorisations in respect of premises in that part or those parts of its area.

The report pack includes a number of appendices providing details of the existing licence for Chicken Stop, the application to vary it, and the representation from a local resident, as well as maps and reports relating to the Cumulative Impact Assessment.