To elect a Chairman for the hearing.

Councillor Brig. P Jones CBE was elected as Chairman for the Regulatory Sub-Committee hearing.

To receive apologies for absence.

No apologies for absence were received.

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

There were no substitutes present at the hearing.

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

GUIDANCE ON DECLARING PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTERESTS AT MEETINGS

The Council’s Members’ Code of Conduct requires Councillors to declare against an Agenda item(s) the nature of an interest and whether the interest is personal or prejudicial.  Councillors have to decide first whether or not they have a personal interest in the matter under discussion.  They will then have to decide whether that personal interest is also prejudicial.

A personal interest is an interest that affects the Councillor more than most other people in the area.  People in the area include those who live, work or have property in the area of the Council.  Councillors will also have a personal interest if their partner, relative or a close friend, or an organisation that they or the member works for, is affected more than other people in the area.  If they do have a personal interest, they must declare it but can stay and take part and vote in the meeting. 

Whether an interest is prejudicial is a matter of judgement for each Councillor.  What Councillors have to do is ask themselves whether a member of the public – if he or she knew all the facts – would think that the Councillor’s interest was so important that their decision would be affected by it.  If a Councillor has a prejudicial interest then they must declare what that interest is and leave the meeting room.

There were no declarations of interest made.

To consider an application for a review of a premises licence in respect of ‘The King Charles II, 13 Broad Street, Ross On Wye, HR9 7EA’.

The Regulatory Sub-Committee was convened in order to determine an application for a review of a premise licence in accordance with Section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003. The Review was in respect of the Horse and Jockey, New Street, Ross-on-Wye and had been applied for by Mrs Rowena Clark, an interested party living in the vicinity of the premises. The review related to the following licensing objectives:

1.      The prevention of public nuisance

The Chairman introduced the Members and Officers and asked any interested parties to introduce themselves. The following attendees were noted:

·         Rowena Clark (Applicant)

·         Michael Rudd (Representing Claire Jones, in support of the review)

·         Maria Oates (Licensee)

·         Andrew Gooding (Licensee)

·         Joanna Cochran (Licensee’s Legal Advisor)

The Chairman advised all of the interested parties of the hearing procedures and asked if any person required an extension to the 10 minutes allocated for public speaking, no extensions to the time limit were requested. He then asked the Licensing Officer to present his report. The Licensing Officer advised Members that the applicant had confirmed in writing that the thumping noise referred to in her application was caused by loud music inside the premises and not the air conditioning units.

The Environmental Health Officer advised the Sub-Committee that she was aware of noise issues with regard to the King Charles II. She added that the Environmental Health Department considered applying for a review previously but matters had improved for a period of time. She felt that noise issues had recently become worse for the neighbouring residents and therefore requested that the following 2 conditions be added to the premises licence:

• The use of the rear external area in its entirety shall be prohibited between 23:30 hours and 10:00 hours the following day.
• A Dispersal Policy shall be written and maintained to the satisfaction of the Environmental Health Department.

She added that the premises did not operate as a normal public house and was being operated as a nightclub. Finally she added that moving the smoking area to the front of the premises could be beneficial as patrons could be observed by SIA registered door staff and CCTV.

In accordance with the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005, Ms Cochran, representing the Premise Licence Holder, addressed the Sub-Committee. She presented Members with a brief background of the management structure and operational procedures of the premises. She advised the Sub-Committee that Mr Gooding wanted to work with the neighbouring residents in order to address the issues raised. She added that he had previously taken a number of actions to address the concerns such as reducing the volume of the music, removing the noisy cellar cooling systems, fitting air conditioning to stop windows being opened, and removing the patio heaters. She added that as well as these actions he had also taking a number of measures to reduce noise in the garden, she confirmed that a member of staff was now in the beer garden from 11.30pm to 1.30am and that they had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

To consider an application for a new premises licence in respect of Coral, Broad Street, Hereford.

The Licensing Officer advised Members that the application had been deferred.