| Minutes: | LICENSING SUB COMMITTEE 14TH AUGUST 2006 Minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Sub Committee of Flintshire County Council held at County Hall, Mold on Monday 14 August 2006 PRESENT: Councillor L A Sharps (Chairman) Councillors: S R Baker and J F Jones OFFICERS OF FLINTSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL: Principal Solicitor, Head of Committee, Member, and Electoral Services, Licensing Officer and Administration Assistant RESPONSIBLE AUTHORITIES – REPRESENTATIVES: Sgt. Colin Jones, North Wales Police and Mr Andrew Fuller, Pollution Control Manager, Flintshire County Council. APPLICANTS/AGENTS: Mr & Mrs Carr (applicants) and Mr Neil Jenkins – Business Development Manager INTERESTED PARTY: Mr D Lawrenson
1.00 am. The proposed closing time was 30 minutes after the proposed alcohol supply hours outlined above.
1. APOLOGIES: None were received.
2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST (including Whipping Declarations) None were received.
3. REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENT AND REGENERATION The Sub Committee considered the report of the Acting Director of Environment and Regeneration which was presented by the Licensing Officer in respect of an application for variation of a premises licence for the Ship Inn, 275 High Street, Connah’s Quay.
4. THE APPLICATION An application for variation of a premises licence was submitted by Flint Bishop & Barnett Solicitors on behalf of the existing licence holder Mr & Mrs Carr in relation to the Ship Inn, 275 High Street, Connah’s Quay. The premises operated to the following hours: Monday to Saturday 11.00 am - 11.00 pm Sunday Noon - 10.30 pm These hours applied to the sale of alcohol and entertainment by the way of recorded music. A previous application to vary the above hours was refused at a Licensing Sub Committee hearing on Monday 26th September 2005 The hours proposed for sale of alcohol were: Monday to Thursday 11.00 am to Midnight Friday and Saturday 11.00 am to 1.00 am the following morning Sunday 11.00 am to 11.30 pm These hours would also apply to regulated entertainment The hours proposed for Late Night refreshment were: Monday to Thursday 11.00 pm to Midnight Friday and Saturday 11.00 pm to 1.00 am the following morning Sunday 11.00 pm to 11.30 pm On Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday at Bank Holiday weekends, Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and New Years Eve the terminal hour would be
5. BACKGROUND The application had been advertised and there had been representations from North Wales Police and Flintshire’s Pollution Control Section and these were attached as Appendix 2 and Appendix 3 to the report respectively. Representation was made by a person living in the vicinity and this was shown as Appendix 4 to the report.
6. PROMOTION OF THE LICENSING OBJECTIVES The additional steps proposed for the promotion of the Licensing Objectives submitted by the applicant were shown as Appendix 1 to the report.
7. NOTICES AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION The Licensing Officer confirmed that the relevant notices had been served.
8. SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE / REQUEST TO CROSS EXAMINE The Chairman asked questions as determined in the procedure. (a) The applicants circulated internal and external photographs of the premises and explained that the building has listed status. In addition a letter was submitted from Mr MD Miah, Manager of the Zari Indian Restaurant, which was located opposite the Ship Inn. (b) The representative of North Wales Police and Officers of Flintshire Pollution Control Services indicated that they had no additional information to submit but would be referring to noise monitoring information of the premises which was undertaken the weekend preceding the meeting of the Sub-Committee. The licensee did not object to such information being referred to. (c) The interested party indicated that he had no additional information to submit. (d) All parties requested the opportunity to cross examine if necessary.
9. HEARING AND DETERMINATION OF THE APPLICATION The Chairman advised that the Sub Committee would proceed to hear and determine the application by reference to the four Licensing Objectives.
10. FURTHER INFORMATION The Chairman asked the Licensing Officer to confirm whether or not there was any further information to add to the papers in front of the Committee. The Licensing Officer confirmed that there was not.
11. PRESENTATION BY THE APPLICANT The Chairman invited the applicant to present the application and Mr Jenkins presented the case. Mr Jenkins explained that significant refurbishment and improvements had been undertaken at the premises since the previous application for a variation of licence which was made in September 2005. There had been a change of licensee and Mr & Mrs Carr were the existing licensees of the Ship Inn. He was of the opinion that the concerns of the Local Authority and Police had been addressed with regard to noise abatement and secondary glazing and a noise limiter device had been installed within the premises. Signs had been prominently displayed on all doors requesting customers to enter and leave the premises in a quiet and orderly manner and with respect for local residents. Mr Jenkins had visited a local taxi company to draw their attention to the code of conduct and to request that taxi drivers did not sound their horns when arriving at the premises. Mr Jenkins advised the Committee that an Indian restaurant and another public house were located in the immediate vicinity and their customers were also frequent users of taxi services. Whilst Mr Jenkins acknowledged that there had been some incidents requiring Police attention, he suggested that they had been of a minor nature and queried whether the premises had been visited more often than any other. Mr Jenkins commented that there were numerous residents living in close proximity to the pub but only one interested party had made representation. Mr Jenkins stated that the Licensee had been granted 3 temporary events notices.
12. REPRESENTATIONS BY RESPONSIBLE AUTHORITIES North Wales Police Sgt. Jones stated that an objection was made to the application under the licensing objective of ‘prevention of public nuisance’ and explained that the previous application, which was fully refused by the Licensing Sub Committee, was for a more limited variation application to the one now submitted. After the refusal of the variation last year the premises were closed for several months for refurbishment. Mrs Carr was appointed as the new Licensee and the premises reopened towards the end of the year. The number of incidents reported to the Police in relation to noise or disturbance since the premises had reopened had been less than previous, however, the representation and evidence given by Mr Lawrenson in Appendix 4 of this report was still very similar to that presented last year. Sgt. Jones reported that two temporary event notices had been granted in recent months; one for the opening of the premises and one in respect of a wedding. He informed the Committee that, under the Licensing Act, the Police were not permitted to make an objection under the prevention of public nuisance with regard to a temporary event notice. Sgt Jones asked the Committee to take into account that any variation granted would relate to the premises themselves and not to Mr & Mrs Carr. With regard to similar applications, Sgt Jones briefly referred to the relevant Department of Culture Media and Support (DCMS) guidelines and the Flintshire County Council Statement of Licensing Policy. Sgt. Jones requested that the Committee, in determining the application for variation, should give no consideration of the pending proceedings against Mrs Towers, Designated Premises Supervisor, for alleged licensing offences. Pollution Control Section, Envionment and Regeneration, Flintshire County Council Mr A Fuller, on behalf of the Pollution Control Section, referred to the previous history of noise related complaints. Mr Fuller had met Mr Jenkins at the premises and discussed, in general terms, measures which could be taken to reduce noise levels. However, there had been no further discussion regarding double glazing, a sound prevention scheme or adequate ventilation of the premises. A statutory notice had been served on the previous Licensee, Mrs Mason, in May 2005 which required abatement of the nuisance. The playing of music after 11.00pm was in contravention of the statutory notice served. The Pollution Control Section had recently received further complaints from Mr Lawrenson regarding noise from the premises which were currently being investigated. Mr Robert Johnson, Environmental Health Officer, had visited Mr Lawrenson’s flat on Saturday evening for the purpose of noise monitoring. There was loud music emanating from the pub when Mr Johnson arrived and on entering the flat loud music and karaoke could clearly be heard until 11.00 pm. Detailed information and recordings were available. Mr Fuller stated that from the Authority’s point of view, matters had not been resolved and therefore at present he was unable to support the change in licensing conditions as sought in the current application.
13. REPRESENTATION BY INTERESTED PARTY Mr Lawrenson presented his reasons for objecting to the proposed extension to the licensing hours for the premises. His main concerns were what he felt was the regular flouting of licensing hours, the level of noise emitting from the premises into the early hours of the morning, particularly at weekends, and the incidents of disturbance which occurred in the vicinity of the public house. Mr Lawrenson referred to a detailed log of noise nuisance and incidences between October 2005 and July 2006 which he had submitted as evidence. He gave a verbal update of recent events. Mr Lawrenson informed the Committee that the Ship Inn was located between two other public houses and as a result regularly attracted customers passing to each of those premises. In addition, the Ship Inn had no car park and customers arrived and left the premises on foot or by taxi causing increasing levels of noise and nuisance to local residents. In summarising Mr Lawrenson urged the Licensing Committee to reject the application for a variation of hours
14. FINAL PRESENTATIONS (a) Applicant The Chair invited Mr Jenkins to cross-examine Mr Lawrenson. Referring to Mr Lawrenson’s detailed log of incidences at the premises, Mr Jenkins asked Mr Lawrenson to explain how, with certainty, he was aware that the licensing laws were being flouted. Mr Lawrenson said he had recorded several instances of alcohol being served and money being exchanged between the Licensee and customers across the bar and into the till. Mr Jenkins felt that unless Mr Lawrenson was in the premises himself at that time or had surveillance equipment installed on the premises, there was no evidence to justify the allegations. Mr Jenkins referred to photographs he had circulated showing the interior and exterior of the building and the position of the till and the bar. Mr Lawrenson replied that he could see directly into the pub from a window in his flat and had a view from the bar to the till. The Chair invited Mr Jenkins to cross examine Sgt. Jones, North Wales Police. Mr Jenkins asked Sgt. Jones if the premises had been managed in a disorderly fashion. Sgt Jones responded that in general terms they were not managed in a disorderly fashion. The Chair invited Mr Jenkins to cross-examine Mr A Fuller, Pollution Control Services Manager. Referring to the noise monitoring exercise undertaken by Mr Johnson at Mr Lawrenson’s flat on the weekend previous to this meeting, Mr Jenkins asked if the noise was more or less excessive. Mr Fuller replied the noise was to a statutory nuisance level. Mr Jenkins advised that the noise inhibitor level had been set at 90 decibels by the company who had installed the system and could not be reset by the Licensee. Mr Jenkins would take advice from Flintshire County Council’s department of Environment & Regeneration regarding resetting of the system to an acceptable level. (b) Interested Party The Chair invited Mr Lawrenson to cross-examine the Applicant. Referring to a letter circulated at the meeting from the Manager of the Zari Indian Restaurant, Mr Lawrenson asked Mr & Mrs Carr if they frequented the restaurant and also was Mr Miah a regular visitor to the Ship Inn. The applicant replied that they did occasionally visit the restaurant and the owners of the restaurant did visit the Ship Inn, but neither parties were regular customers.
15. QUESTIONS BY THE SUB COMMITTEE Referring to the detailed log of incidences and noise nuisance submitted by Mr Lawrenson, the Chair asked Mr Jenkinson if he could provide an explanation as to why there had been frequent incidents recorded of customers remaining in the premises consuming alcohol until the early hours of the morning, loud music and general disturbance could be clearly heard until after midnight. Mr Jenkins responded he did not agree that all the incidents recorded by Mr Lawrenson were factual but in many cases were assumptions. There were other residents who lived and had businesses in close vicinity to the pub and noise and disturbance may come from those premises.
16. SUMMING UP BY THE APPLICANT The Chairman invited the applicant to sum up. Mr Jenkins indicated that it was in the best interest of all concerned to have the premises operating inside the law and with the cooperation of all Authorities. He believed the premises were not being managed in a disorderly fashion but nevertheless had taken note of comments made today. Mr Jenkins suggested that if the licensing hours of the premises were the same as the other local licensed premises, the alleged issue of people causing a disturbance as they made their way to other public houses would be resolved. Mr Jenkins disputed the remark that, apart from Mr Lawrenson, other interested parties were too intimidated to make their views known and stressed that he could be contacted by correspondence or telephone. He was confident that the premises could operate with extended hours with no inconvenience or noise to other persons. Noise disturbance would be closely regulated and CCTV has been installed inside and outside the premises.
17. DETERMINATION OF APPLICATION The Chairman adjourned the proceedings and asked all to leave with the exception of Committee Members, the Solicitor and the Clerk.
18. POINTS OF CLARIFICATION The Chairman addressed Mr Jenkins to clarify a comment made during the meeting that other people felt too intimidated to make their views known with regard to local noise or disturbance. He explained that the remark made was not directly referring to this application for variation of a premises licence but was referring to other licensed premises. The Committee confirmed that proceedings against the current Designated Premises Supervisor for alleged licensing offences had been totally disregarded in reaching a decision in relation to the application.
19. DECISION The Sub Committee declined the application in full and the current licensing hours would remain. The applicants were required to liaise and fully cooperate with the Environment and Health Resources Officer at Flintshire County Council to satisfy the local residents that no noise would emanate from the premises. When this issue had been resolved, a review of the variation of hours may be considered in future if an appropriate application was made.
20. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS The Chairman addressed Mr Lawrenson and stated that the Sub Committee had taken notice of his observations of general nuisance and disturbance caused by people who made their journey to other pubs in the area and this local behaviour was a matter of grave concern that the Sub Committee intended to address. SUMMARY OF DECLARATIONS MADE BY MEMBERS IN ACCORDANCE WITH FLINTSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL’S CODE OF CONDUCT LICENSING COMMITTEE DATE: 14th August, 2006 MEMBER ITEM MIN. NO. REFERS NO DECLARATIONS WERE MADE Approved Date - 787 - |
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