Councillor RC Hunt was elected as Chairman for the Regulatory Sub-Committee hearing.

Apologies were received from Councillor PL Bettington.

Councillor RC Hunt attended the hearing as a substitute member for Councillor PL Bettington.

To consider an application for the variation of a premises licence in respect of ‘The Eagle Inn, 23 Broad Street, Ross on Wye, HR9 7EA’.

The Regulatory Sub Committee was convened in order to determine an application for a variation of the premises licence in respect of the Eagle Inn, 23 Broad Street, Ross-on-Wye, HR9 7EA. The application was submitted in accordance with Section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003.

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

·         Mrs Gooding (Applicant)

·         Mr Mooney and Inspector Gebbie (West Mercia Police)

·         Richard Roberts (Environmental Health Officer)

·         Councillor CM Bartrum (Local Ward Member)

·         Mrs Kefalas, Ms Munez, Miss Lucas, and Mr Phillips (Local Residents)

The Chairman advised them of the hearing procedures and asked if any party required an extension to the 10 minute time limit for public speaking. No extensions to the time limit were requested.

The Licensing Officer presented the report and advised Members that a copy of the advertisement had been received by the Licensing Department and that it was acceptable. In response to a question from the Democratic Services Officer he confirmed that the advertisement did not mention outside activities and that therefore the Committee could only consider indoor activities.

Mrs Gooding advised the Licensing Officer that she had been present at the premises since April 2011 although the licence was only transferred to her name from February 2012.

In accordance with the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005, Mr Mooney, representing West Mercia Police addressed the sub-committee. He advised that all conditions had now been agreed and that therefore the Police had no further comment to make. In response to a question Mr Mooney advised that noise was not a criminal offence although nuisance and disturbance was. A further discussion then took place in respect of fixed penalty notices and Section 27 notices requesting that people leave the area immediately.

The Licensing Officer requested clarification from the Police in respect of issues at the premises since Mrs Gooding took over as the premises licence holder. He advised that there had been a bad history at the premises prior to Mrs Gooding taking over the premises, this had resulted in the police applying for a review of the premises licence. Since March 2011 there had been 5 incidents at the Eagle Inn, 1 of these was when the premises was closed, out of the remaining 4 incidents, the police had been called to assist with ejecting patrons. On all but one occasion the person in question had already left the premises prior to the police arriving. Mr Mooney added that this was a vast improvement on previous issues at the premises. Finally he confirmed that there had been no noise complaints recorded on the Police system since March 2011.

Richard Roberts, the environmental health officer, was also present. He also advised that conditions had been agreed with the applicant. He added that the Environmental Health Team did not have any noise complaints registered on their systems since March 2011 in respect of the Eagle Inn.

In response to these comments a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 148.