Agenda and minutes

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

Proposed By Cllr Fry, seconded by Cllr Pothecary.

Decision: that Cllr Derek Beer be appointed Chair for the duration of the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Shortell and Wheller, substituted by Cllrs Fry and Pothecary

To disclose any pecuniary, other registrable or non-registrable interests as set out in the adopted Code of Conduct. In making their disclosure councillors are asked to state the agenda item, the nature of the interest and any action they propose to take as part of their declaration.

If required, further advice should be sought from the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting.

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests were made at the meeting.

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 were no urgent items.

An application has been made for a variation of the premises licence at 3 Salisbury Street, Blandford, Dorset, DT11 7AU.  The application has been advertised in accordance with regulations and has attracted relevant representations. A Licensing Sub Committee must consider the application and representations at a public hearing.

The report for consideration of a variation to the licence for 3 Salisbury Street, Blandford, Dorset, was presented by the Senior Licensing Officer.

The application sought additional hours on the licence for films, live and recorded music indoors, additional opening hours and the removal of condition 17 on the current licence to allow for the purchase of alcohol without the need for a substantial meal.

The application was for the inside of the building only and did not include the external areas.

The applicant had previously agreed to the following 3 conditions requested by Environmental Protection:

1. Amplified music shall not be played at a level that will cause unreasonable disturbance to the occupants of any properties in the vicinity.

2. Except for access and egress, doors and windows shall be kept closed at all times that music levels are above background.

3. No music or speech shall be relayed via external speakers (other than for events where the prior approval of the licensing authority has been obtained).

The 8 relevant representations received related to concerns regarding the potential increase in noise and anti-social behaviour (ASB) from the premises.

All those present were invited to ask questions of the Senior Licensing Officer.

The Applicant was invited to put his case forward.  He advised that he would like the opportunity to hold occasional theme nights such as Turkish or Latin evenings.  The premises were large and he was keen to make use of the space, he also wanted to be able to serve drinks without forcing customers to buy food.

He told the Sub-committee that there had been lots of coming and going whilst the restaurant was being set up but any disruption that had caused was finished, he even parked his car away from the restaurant so as not to disturb the neighbours when he left at night-time.  He had no plans to turn the venue into a nightclub. 

He felt that he has been harassed by his neighbours and been accused of various things which he had not been involved with. 

He was happy to work with his neighbours and was happy with the conditions requested by Environmental Health.

The Sub-committee were invited to ask questions of the applicant.

In response to a question relating to customers entering and exiting the back door and the potential for ASB particularly in the summer months.  The applicant advised that it was only staff that used the back door and the outside area, members of the public used the front door.

The Senior Licensing Officer confirmed that the outside area was not included in the licence and therefore not part of this application.

Those who had made representations were given the opportunity to put forward questions to the applicant.

They wanted to know how the applicant would manage the rear exit as it was a fire door which could not be locked plus minimising the possible noise from  internal speakers when the door was opened.

The Senior Licensing Officer reminded the Sub-committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

There are no exempt items scheduled for this meeting.  

There was no exempt business.