To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors R. Preece and Brig P. Jones CBE.

To receive details any details of Members nominated to attend the meeting in place of a Member of the Committee.

There were no substitutions made.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on the Agenda.

There were no declarations of interest made

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 15th February, 2005.

RESOLVED:            That the Minutes of the meeting held on 15th February, 2005 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To note the procedural arrangements for the meeting.

The Committee noted the procedural arrangements for hearing appeals to ensure that the laws of natural justice were followed to give a fair hearing for applicants and to the licensing officers.

To consider an application for the variation of the finishing time of a Public Entertainments Licence – Herefordshire Young Farmers Club.

Ward: Bromyard

Consideration was given to a report in respect of an application from Herefordshire Young Farmers Association for an Occasional Public Entertainment Licence with a finishing time of later than 0100 hours, which was set out in the Council’s policies.  The Licensing Manager provided the Committee with details of the Council’s policies for granting Public Entertainment Licenses and said that the finishing time of not later than 0100 hours was in place to protect the local community and individuals from disturbance by events involving music, singing and dancing.  She also advised that the Committee would need to have regard to the implications of any decisions it made which would relate to the provision of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.  She added that the the Police had no objections to the application; and that neither had the Fire Authority and Area Environmental Health Manager, subject to their respective conditions being met if the application was approved.

Mr M Lewis presented the application by Herefordshire Young Farmers Club for a finishing time of 2:00 am in respect of their County Rally Dance to be held on 21st May 2005 at Lower Hope Farm Ullingswick.  He said that the event had been held at various venues within the County during previous years and that no problems had been encountered.  He explained the steps that would be put in place to minimise noise and disturbance and outlined the arrangements for car parking and security, and the likely number of those who would be attending. 

At the conclusion of the application the Officers and Mr Lewis withdrew from the meeting whilst consideration was given to the application.  Having considered all the facts in relation to the application, the Committee whilst mindful of the Council’s policies took the view that satisfactory evidence had been given to suggest that the event would be well supervised in a responsible manner.  The Committee decided that the extension of hours should be granted, but only because of the exceptional circumstances involved.  The applicant and the Officers were invited back to the meeting and were informed of the decision.

RESOLVED:               That an Occasional Public Entertainment Licence be granted to Herefordshire Young Farmers in respect of their County Rally on 21st May 2005 between 7a.m. and 2.00am at Lower Hope Farm Ullingswick subject to:

(a)   the applicant fulfilling all of the conditions imposed by the Police, Fire Authority and the Head of Environmental Health and Trading Standards; and

(b)   the applicant first agreeing final details of the event with the Head of Environmental Health and Trading Standards, satisfying his requirements regarding car parking, stewarding, minimisation of noise nuisance and providing him with a responsible contact person for the event.

To consider changing the current conditions for occasional public entertainment, theatre and cinema applications to extend the permitted finishing time from 01.00 to 03.00 where there are no objections to the application

Wards: County-wide

The Licensing Manager presented a report of the Head of Environmental Health and Trading Standards suggesting changing the conditions for Occasional Public Entertainment, Theatre and Cinema applications to extend the permitted finishing time from 01.00 to 03.00 where there are no objections to the application.  She said that such changes would enable Members and the officers to save time to concentrate on the transitional period for the Licensing Act 2003.  The Committee noted that if an objection was submitted by a Member or any other person, the application would be submitted to the Committee for determination.  The Committee concurred with the proposals of the Licensing Manager.

RESOLVED THAT

(a)                     the current conditions for occasional Public Entertainment, Theatre and Cinema licences be extended to change the permitted finishing time from 01.00 to 03.00 where there are no objections to the application; and

(b)                       in the case of all applications asking for entertainment beyond 01.00, the Chair of the Regulatory Committee (or Vice Chair in the absence of the Chair) and the appropriate Ward Member(s) shall be notified.

To consider implementing revised licence fees for the specified Council's licensing functions issued by the Environmental Health and Trading Standards licensing Section.

Wards: County-wide

A report was presented by the Licensing Manager suggesting the implementation of revised licence fees for the specified Council's licensing functions issued by the Environmental Health and Trading Standards licensing Section.  She outlined the proposed fees and explained the legislation under which each licensing area was controlled.  She advised that the fees had not been increased in over two years and that they had been set at a rate intended to cover the cost to the Council of issuing the licences and to ensure the Council did not make a profit as required by the legislation.  She said that a Sex shop licence fee had not previously been agreed due to the Committee having decided a policy of having no sex establishments permitted within Herefordshire.  The Licensing Manager said that a request had been received for a Sex Shop Licence and that it was necessary to set a fee before the application was determined.  The Committee agreed that the fee should be set at £3200 with renewal of £1500.  She also said that the fee for the grant/renewal of a game dealers licence was £6 in the report and that it should be £25.  She advised that taxi fees were not included in the report because an assessment of the cost to the Council of administration and enforcement of this function was being carried out and would be the subject of a report to a future meeting.  Having considered the proposals put forward by the Licensing Manager, the Committee agreed to the implementation of the new fee structure.

RESOLVED THAT: the licence fees be implemented for 2005/2006 as set out in the following table:

DIRECT SERVICES SCALE OF FEES AND CHARGES

LICENCE FEES 2005/2006