Agenda and draft minutes

RESOLVED:

That Councillor John Kelly be appointed as Chair for this meeting of the Sub-Committee.

Members and Officers are requested to give notice of any personal or prejudicial interest and the nature of that interest, relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the relevant Code of Conduct.

No declarations of any disclosable pecuniary interests or personal interests were received.

Report of the Assistant Director of Place (Highways and Public Protection)

The Sub-Committee considered the report of the Assistant Director of Place (Highways and Public Protection) regarding an application by Miss Gemma Price for the Variation of a Premises Licence in respect of the above premises.

A letter of objection to the application had been received from a member of the public and this necessitated a hearing for which the Sub-Committee had been convened.

The Sub-Committee heard representations from Liam Riley, Applicant Representative, and Gemma Price, Applicant and Designated Premises Supervisor, in support of the application.

The Sub-Committee also heard representations from a member of the public objecting to the application.

At the end of their representations, Liam Riley, Gemma Price and the objector confirmed that they were satisfied they had said all they wished to say.

The Sub-Committee retired under Regulation 14 (2) of the Licensing Act (Hearings) Regulations 2005 (as amended) and thereby excluded the press and public whilst they reached their decision on the application. The Sub-Committee returned to give their decision in public.

Decision

RESOLVED: That

The Application for the Variation of the Premises Licence for The Old Tap, 40 Crosby Road North, Waterloo L22 4QQ, be granted.

Reasons:

The Sub-Committee note that this application is for the variation of an already established Premises Licence and they are bound to have regard to the appropriate Legislation, Guidance and to Sefton Council’s own Statement of Licensing Policy.

Statutory Guidance states that Licensing authorities are best placed to make decisions about appropriate opening hours in their areas based on their local knowledge and in consultation with responsible authorities; none of the responsible authorities have submitted any representations on this occasion. Licensing authorities must not impose predetermined opening hours without giving individual consideration to the merits of each application.

The Sub-Committee cannot address issues that are dealt with by other statutory or common law regimes. The Sub-Committee must grant a variation unless to do so would undermine the licensing objectives.

Whilst the Sub-Committee is sympathetic to the concerns of the objector in regard to general antisocial behaviour, it has not heard or received any evidence that the Objector’s concerns are as a result of licensable activities taking place at the premises, nor is there any evidence that the increased hours of licensable activities will result in increased anti-social behaviour and therefore public nuisance. Further, the concerns seem to relate to areas beyond the licensable premises the Statutory guidance makes clear that, the actions of individuals beyond the immediate area surrounding the premises are matters for the personal responsibility of those individuals under the law. As such, the Sub-Committee is not of the view that it is able to impose conditions on the Applicant  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.