Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the meeting and the Chairman to present and explain the procedure for the meeting.

It was proposed by Cllr B Pipe and seconded by Cllr K Wheller.

Decision

That Cllr E Parker be elected the Chairman for the meeting.

Cllr E Parker took the Chair; welcomed all present and set out the procedure for the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence.

No apologies for absence were received at the meeting.

To receive any declarations of interest.

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests were made at the meeting. All three member indicated that they had made a site visit of the premises but had not pre-determined the application.

To consider any items of business which the Chairman has had prior notification and considers to be urgent pursuant to section 100B (4) b) of the Local Government Act 1972. The reason for the urgency shall be recorded in the minutes.

There are no urgent items to report.

An application for a new premises licence has been made by Cove Café Ltd for on and off sales of alcohol, regulated entertainment and late night refreshment. Representations have been received and remain unresolved therefore a hearing by the licensing Sub-Committee must be held to determine the application.

The Licensing Officer set out the application for a new premises licence made by Cove Café Ltd for on and off sales of alcohol, regulated entertainment and late night refreshment.

The Licensing Officer advised that the applicant had withdrawn some parts of the application in his letter dated 9 July 2020 and this information had been circulated to all parties. The application was now for:-

The supply of alcohol (on sales only) between 1100hrs and 2330hrs daily, with an additional hour on New Year’s Eve and all national bank holidays. 

Regulated entertainment indoor only (live and recorded music) between 2300 and 2330hours with an additional hour on New Year’s Eve and all national bank holidays, and 

Late night refreshment between 2300 and midnight with an additional hour on New Year’s Eve and all national bank holidays. 

The Licensing Officer continued that whilst it might look odd to see live and recorded music for only the half an hour on the application.  This was down to the Live Music Act which simply meant that any premises with alcohol licences did not need music on their licence in order to have music on their licence in order to have music playing between 8am and 11pm. 

The Licensing Act 2003 (Descriptions of Entertainment) (Amendment) Order 2013 meant that indoor sporting events and performance of dance were also not considered to be licensable activities if they occurred between the hours of 0800 hrs and 2300hrs (subject to certain audience size limitations). There was no similar provision for films.

The Licensing Officer  continued that one of the objectors had shared his submission that he intended to give prior to the hearing and this had been circulated to all parties. The Licensing Officer took this opportunity to remind the sub-committee about the relevance of representations.  All of the representations had been included in the committee papers in their entirety for the purposes of transparency. However only those elements that related to the licensing four objectives should be taken into account.

There were no questions of the Licensing Officer at this stage.

The applicant’s solictor, Mr Elford on behalf of Seals Cove Ltd advised the sub-committee that the premises was sited on a trading estate within Bridport.  He thanked the Licensing Officer for listing the changes made  and indicated that the rest of the application remained as originally stated. The premise was aimed at families not just with young children, but for all age groups of the family and the application sought flexibility in order to cater for the demand from customers.

Mr Elford acknowledged that there was some objections from local residents, but pointed out that there had been no representations received from the responsible authorities.

Mr Elford also proposed a number of additional conditions to address some of the concerns raised by representations received. These were set out as:-

(i)         To provide a smoking area for customers of the premises

(ii)        To monitor the smoking area to ensure that customer behaviour is not a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To move the exclusion of the press and the public for the following item in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph x of schedule 12 A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

The public and the press will be asked to leave the meeting whilst the item of business is considered.

There was no exempt business to report.