To receive apologies for absence.

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

To receive declarations of interests in respect of Schedule 1, Schedule 2 or Other Interests from members of the committee in respect of items on the agenda.

To consider an application for a review of a premises licence in respect of The Ducker, 11 South Street, Leominster. HR6 8JA called by Emma Bowell on behalf of the Licensing Authority.

Members of the licensing sub-committee from the council’s planning and regulatory committee considered the above application, full details of which appeared before the Members in their agenda, the background papers and the supplement issued on 4 March 2019.       

Prior to making their decision the members heard from Fred Spriggs, Licensing Officer, Emma Bowell, Technical Licensing Officer, and Sergeant Duncan Reynolds. The committee also heard from the premises licence holder’s agent and Councillor JM Bartlett as the ward member.

The Licensing Authority explained the reasons for requesting the review of the premises licence, namely that:

·         on three separate occasions the premises licence holder had failed to comply with the CCTV conditions attached to the licence;

·         warning letters had been sent on the first two occasions and that the premises licence holder had been warned that formal action might follow any further breach of conditions;

·         the Licensing Authority was concerned that suitable arrangements were not in place to maintain the CCTV equipment and to train staff.

The Licensing Authority had initially requested the removal of the designated premises supervisor, however upon hindsight they felt this may not necessarily remove the breach of CCTV condition, therefore asked for the conditions found at Appendix 9 of the report.

West Mercia Police outlined their representation in connection with the application, which included:

·         support for the review application;

·         concern that the premises licence holder should fully understand the conditions of the licence and fully comply with them;

·         the three breaches that occurred where the Police were unable to obtain CCTV footage were shared with the Licensing Authority and showed that the premises licence holder was failing to adhere to the law, had undermined the licensing objectives and to a certain extent had inhibited a number of Police investigations;

·         the Police supported the proposed amendment to the licence and also requested that a formal warning be given to the premises licence holder regarding the failures that had occurred.

The ward councillor addressed the sub committee. She noted the good work that had been done by the current premises licence holder since taking over the venue, which had resulted in reduced nuisance to local residents. The breaches identified were serious but remedial action had been taken to upgrade the CCTV system and put in place appropriate training.

The premises licence holder’s agent then addressed the sub committee and highlighted the following: 

·         the premises licence holder was distressed by the three reported incidents as she had no intention not to comply with the conditions of the licence;

·         she disputed some of the details of the reported incidents and stated that it was only on the first reported occasion that she had failed to comply;

·         on the second and third occasion footage was handed over on demand;

·         the new CCTV system was checked regularly to ensure that it was working correctly and a logbook had now been put in place where these checks were recorded;

·         instructions on use of the system, including a list of where cameras were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To consider an application for a review of a premises licence in respect of The Taste of Raj, 67 St Owen Street, Hereford. HR1 2JQ called by Police Sergeant 3456 Reynolds of West Mercia Police.

Members of the licensing sub-committee from the council’s planning and regulatory committee considered the above application, full details of which appeared before the Members in their agenda, the background papers and the supplement issued on 4 March 2019.       

Prior to making their decision, the members heard from Emma Bowell, Technical Licensing Officer, Leah Wilson, Trading Standards Officer and Sergeant Duncan Reynolds of West Mercia Police. The committee also heard from the premises licence holder.

Sgt Reynolds explained that West Mercia Police were involved in the Multi Agency Targeted Enforcement (MATE) group, which was made up of a wide range of partner agencies including UK Border and Immigration Service and various departments within Herefordshire Council. On Monday 17 December 2018 an intelligence led MATE operation took place, with officers from the police and the UK Border Agency attending the Taste of Raj. The premises were a well established business which had not come to the attention of the police prior to this incident. The operation, which took place when the premises were open to the public, resulted in the following:

·         Discovery of one male in the kitchen area who made as if to leave the premises by the rear exit from the kitchens when officers entered, this individual was found to be a Bangladeshi national with no right to be in the UK or to work in the UK;

·         This individual had the appearance of having been involved in the preparation of food at the premises;

·         Discovery of a second male, also a Bangladeshi nation, in the living accommodation, this individual was found to have overstayed his entitlement to be in the UK;

·         A search of the room where the second individual was found revealed clothing used by waiting staff which he admitted was his;

·         Both individuals were arrested.

Sgt Reynolds reminded the sub committee that employment of illegal immigrants was viewed as a serious matter and that guidance in Section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003 indicated that serious consideration should be given to revoking a premises licence even if the failure was the first occasion.

However, due to this being the first occasion that this premises had been found breaching immigration legislation, West Mercia Police felt that a licence suspension and application of conditions to the premises licence were proportionate. It was noted that the current premises licence had no conditions attached to it, which was felt to be inadequate with regards to promoting the licensing objectives.

West Mercia Police had provided a suggested list of conditions to the licence holder, which were listed in the supplement to the report.

The sub committee heard from Trading Standards that conditions had been requested which were of a standard nature for this type of premises and that no correspondence had been received from the premises licence holder.

It was established that the premises licence holder had not received a copy of the suggested conditions from Trading Standards. The sub committee adjourned while a copy was provided for him to read.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To consider an application for an occasional premises licence in respect of How the Light Gets In Festival 2019Wye Meadow, Newport Street, Hay-on-Wye, HR3 5BZ.

Members of the licensing sub-committee from the council’s planning and regulatory committee considered the above application, full details of which appeared before the Members in their agenda, the background papers and the supplement issued on 4 March 2019.

Prior to making their decision, the members heard from the applicant and the applicant’s finance director, Fred Spriggs, Licensing Officer, Aris Trezins, Environmental Health Officer and two local residents.

The Licensing Authority summarised the application and noted that no objections had been received from West Mercia Police or the Licensing Authority. Trading Standards and Environmental Health had made representations, which had been agreed with the applicant. Three representations had been accepted from members of the public.

Environmental Health stated that due to public concerns about noise from the site, monitoring had taken place during the event in 2018 including equipment sited in a neighbouring property and officer site visits. No problems had been identified. There had been very few complaints received by Herefordshire Council and a week after the event Powys County Council confirmed they had not received any complaints at that time. A draft noise management plan had been submitted and would be accepted with some minor amendments. It was noted that the condition should be amended to require production of the draft noise management plan 2 months prior to the first day of the festival rather than 3 months as originally stated.

The sub committee then heard from two local residents who lived in and just off Newport Street. The sub committee heard that:

·         There remained some goodwill towards the festival;

·         The proposed finish time of 2am was not reasonable and was considerably later than the main Hay literary festival;

·         Noise from the event site itself was not the issue, there had been a number of instances of nuisance behaviour in the early hours during the 2018 festival;

·         Marshalling had been insufficient; adequate numbers of properly trained marshals should be available if the event was to be repeated.

The applicant and her finance director then addressed the sub committee, stating that:

·         They had run the festival for 10 years, starting in The Globe arts venue in the town and then extending to the current site approximately four years ago;

·         The Globe had a premises licence with the same hours and conditions as those applied for in this occasional licence application;

·         For 2019 the event would be consolidated onto a single site, and the accommodation would also be consolidated to a single camp site opposite the event site, this would reduce the movement of event goers during the festival;

·         There would be SIA security staff on duty alongside the stewards and contact details would be provided to neighbours so that they could report any issues immediately they occurred;

·         The finish time of 2am was important for the success of the festival and mirrored the hours at the Globe.

Following questions it was confirmed that:

·         The number of festival goers who also attended the Hay literary festival had not been measured but  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.