To elect a Chairman for the hearing.

Councillor JW Hope was elected as Chairman for the Regulatory Sub-Committee hearing.

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor JHR Goodwin.

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

Councillor A Seldon was named as a substitute for Councillor JHR Goodwin.

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

There were no declarations of interest made.

To consider an application for variation of the premises licence in respect of Club MO, 1 Gaol Street, Hereford, HR1 2HU.

The Sub-Committee were required to hear and determine an opposed application for a new premises licence for Club MO. The Chairman introduced the Sub-Committee and Officers and confirmed that all members of the Sub-Committee had seen and read the background papers. He then requested that any persons making representations make themselves known. There were no representatives present at the meeting.

The Licensing Officer presented his report to the Sub-Committee. He confirmed that the applicant had advised him that he would not be present at the meeting and that a letter had been received from the applicant requesting that determination of the application be deferred until a later date. In response to a question raised by the Legal Advisor, the Licensing Officer confirmed that the applicant had received notification of the meeting date and location in writing, he also advised the sub-committee that the letter had been sent within the statutory time limits set out in the Licensing Act 2003 Hearing Regulations (2005). The Licensing Officer also noted that he had spoke to the applicant on Tuesday 14th August and that the applicant had indicated that he had mislaid the notification letter and was under the impression that the meeting was due to take place on Thursday 16th August. A copy of the notification letter is attached as an appendix to the minutes.

In response to a further question from the Legal Advisor, the Licensing Officer advised members of the criteria for deferring determination of an application as set out in Para 13 (1) of the Licensing Act 2003 Hearings Regulations (2005). He confirmed that an application could only be deferred if the sub-committee felt that it was in the public interest to do so.

Members felt that the applicant had received sufficient notice of the meeting date and location and that it would not be in the public interest to defer consideration of the application. It was also noted that the notification letter also advised the applicant that he could be represented by a professional representative at the meeting if he was not able to attend.

The Environmental Protection Manager advised the sub committee of a number of concerns that the Environmental Health department had with the application. These concerns were in relation to the public safety and public nuisance aspects of the Licensing Act 2003.

The sub-committee were concerned that bottles and empty containers could be thrown from the first floor and cause injury to patrons below. They also felt that the application did not contain enough information regarding the strength of the roof. They noted that there were a number of residential dwellings in the area and that there was insufficient evidence as to how noise egress would be controlled.

The Regulatory Sub-Committee withdrew from the meeting to make their decision. They requested that the Legal Advisor and Democratic Services Officer accompany them to offer procedural advice.

RESOLVED:

That the application for a variation to the premise licence in respect of Club MO, 1 Gaol Street, Hereford, HR1  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.