A report pack for the meeting shows that the committee has received an application from Avkiran Company LTD to vary the Premises Licence for Shock, an off-licence on Bartlett Street in Caerphilly. The application is to allow the business to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises for an additional three hours per day.

Several objections to the application were received from statutory responsible authorities during the consultation period, and so the committee will now have to decide whether to grant the application in full, grant a modified form of the application, or refuse the application altogether.

Variation of A Premises Licence Application

The report pack contains a report on an application to vary the licence for Shock, an off-licence at 1 Bartlett Street, Caerphilly. The licence is held by Avkiran Company LTD. The application seeks to change the hours during which the business is permitted to sell alcohol. The current licence permits the sale of alcohol for consumption off the premises between 09:00 and 23:00. The application requests that this is changed to permit the sale of alcohol between 08:00 and 01:00, seven days a week.

The application was made on 29 October 2024. The applicant has previously operated a similar business at 18 Clive Street, Caerphilly.

Representations from Responsible Authorities

Representations on the application were received from the following Responsible Authorities:

• Heddlu Gwent Police
• Caerphilly County Borough Council Environmental Health (Pollution Team)
• Caerphilly County Borough Council Licensing Authority (in its role as a Responsible Authority)
• Caerphilly County Borough Council Environmental Health (Health and Safety Team)

Each of the Responsible Authorities objected to the application to extend the hours during which the business would be permitted to sell alcohol.

The grounds for these objections were that:

1. The premises is on a residential street close to Caerphilly railway station, a taxi rank, and a number of public houses.
2. Data provided by the police show that a large number of incidents varying in nature have been reported to the police in the local area in recent years. Although the data also show that the number of incidents has fallen in recent years.
3. It was argued that public houses are better placed to manage the sale and consumption of alcohol than off-licences.
4. The applicant did not demonstrate that they had taken into consideration the nature of the local area or engage with the Responsible Authorities before making the application.
5. The applicant did not propose any additional steps in their application that would promote the licensing objectives.
6. The applicant failed to comply with the conditions of their existing licence relating to staff training.

The applicant has not demonstrated in the application that they have taken into consideration the local area and have not put forward any additional measures to promote the licensing objectives. This is supported by the local authority’s Statement of Licensing Policy, in particular paragraphs 5.4 and 5.5 and 5.7 which states that the applicants and licence holders are expected to trade alcohol hours which are appropriate to their particular environment and applications which have not demonstrated that appropriate alcohol trading hours have been properly considered will likely lead to representations from the relevant responsible authorities.

— Licensing Authority (In its role as a Responsible Authority)

The applicant responded to these representations on 25 November 2024, arguing that they should be allowed to extend their hours to increase their revenues, which had been impacted by their forced relocation from their previous premises, and the recent opening of several new off-licences in the area.

We understand from both decisions that to keep the opening hours to 23:00 however, we would much appreciate it if you could reconsider your decision. We are happy to answer if you have any further questions or have a meeting to discuss any concerns further.

Please note the reason we requested to extend our opening hours to 01:00am is to increase our revenue. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we were forced to relocate from our previous premises [18 Clive Street, Caerphilly] following a compulsory purchase order issued by the Caerphilly County Borough Council. This move disrupted our established customer base and significantly impacted our business income. Additionally, the opening of several new off-licence businesses in the area within close proximity has created increased competition, further reducing our ability to regain the steady trade we previously had.

— Berkman Esat

The applicant disputed the claim that they had failed to comply with the conditions of their licence relating to staff training. They also argued that there had not been any issues at the premises since it opened.

Please note we moved to 1 Bartlett Street on 02 April 2024 and have had no issues with any of our customers, or neighbours, we have not made any calls to the police with regards to public nuisance.

— Berkman Esat

Licensing Assessment

The report pack contains a provisional licensing assessment of the application.

THE LICENSING ASSESSMENT IS A PROVISIONAL SUMMARY, BASED ON REPRESENTATIONS RECEIVED PRIOR TO THE HEARING. THE HEAD OF PUBLIC PROTECTION, COMMUNITY AND LEISURE SERVICES RESERVES THE RIGHT TO AMEND OR VARY THE PROVISIONS CONTAINED IN THE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION, SUBJECT TO ANY CHANGE IN THE MATERIAL FACTS THAT BECOME KNOWN AT THE HEARING.

— Licensing Manager

The assessment concludes that none of the Responsible Authorities objected to the application to bring forward the start time for the sale of alcohol to 08:00. However, there were objections from all of the Responsible Authorities to the application to extend the terminal hour for the sale of alcohol to 01:00. The assessment recommends that the Sub Committee approves the variation to the licence to permit the sale of alcohol from 08:00, but refuses the application to permit sales until 01:00.

Having had regard to the objections received from Gwent Police, Environmental Health (Pollution), Environmental Health (Health and Safety) and Licensing Authority, it is recommended to approve an increase in permitted hours to enable the sale of alcohol from 08:00 as opposed to 09:00, 7 days a week but to refuse the later hours requested i.e 11:00 to 01:00.

— Licensing Manager

The report pack also contains a number of appendices:

• Appendix 1 contains a copy of the current premises licence for Shock Off Licence.
• Appendix 2 contains an aerial photograph of the location of the premises.
• Appendix 3 contains several photographs of the exterior of the premises and the surrounding area.
• Appendix 4 contains a table listing other licensed premises in the vicinity of the applicant premises and their permitted hours for the sale of alcohol. The list includes Savers, Charcoal Grill, Suri's News, Bake Station, 3s Retail LTD (Pentrebane Street), A3s Retail LTD (White Street), The Railway, Malcolm Uphill - Wetherspoons, Geshmark Café Bar and Bistro, The Kings Arms, Caerphilly Conservative Club, Ffos Caerphilly and Court House.
• Appendix 5 contains an extract from the council's Statement of Licensing Policy.
• Appendix 6 contains an extract from the Home Office's guidance on the Licensing Act 2003.
• Appendix 7 contains the representations made by Heddlu Gwent Police.
• Appendix 7a contains the supplementary comments made by Heddlu Gwent Police after receiving the applicant's response to the representations.
• Appendix 8 contains the representations made by Caerphilly County Borough Council's Environmental Health (Pollution Control) Team.
• Appendix 8a contains the supplementary comments made by Caerphilly County Borough Council's Environmental Health (Pollution Control) Team after receiving the applicant's response to the representations.
• Appendix 9 contains the representations made by Caerphilly County Borough Council's Licensing Authority.
• Appendix 9a contains the supplementary comments made by Caerphilly County Borough Council's Licensing Authority after receiving the applicant's response to the representations.
• Appendix 10 contains the representations made by Caerphilly County Borough Council's Environmental Health (Health and Safety) Team.
• Appendix 11 contains the applicant's response to the representations made by the Responsible Authorities.
• Appendix 11a contains a further response from the applicant after receiving the supplementary comments from the Responsible Authorities.