Agenda and minutes

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

Proposed by Cllr Beer, Seconded by Cllr Cocking

Decision: that Cllr Emma Parker be elected as Chairman for the duration of the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Paul Harrison and Sarah Williams, substituted by Cllrs Susan Cocking and Derek Beer.

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 to review the premises licence for Royal Oak, 52-54 Dorchester Road, Weymouth. The application has been out to public consultation.  A Licensing Sub-Committee must consider the application and representations at a public hearing. 

The Senior Licensing Officer presented the report and outlined the details of the review.  The sub-committee were advised that there had been no representations from Environmental Protection, but they had made some comments and suggestions.  No other responsible authorities had made representation.  Licensing had received 9 representations in support of the review,113 representations in support of the premises and representations from both the two Ward Members. 

The Senior Licensing Officer outlined the options available to the sub-committee,

All parties were given the opportunity to ask questions of the Senior Licensing Officer.  In response to those questions, no concerns had been raised about the premises prior to the review request but there had been since it had been submitted.  The Licensing Team Leader gave an explanation to the 2012 Live Music Act and it’s impacts on what was permitted in the garden area.

Mr Miles, the applicant for the review outlined the background of his case.  He explained that since 2021 when covid restrictions were lifted, the premises had organised outdoor events.  These commenced mid-April and ran until mid-October, mostly every Sunday, with end times occasionally running on past 6pm.  Additionally, events were held on Friday and Saturday nights, these tended to be private family events.

The applicant described how the music intrusion dominated his life, however, he was not opposed to the events taking place, it was purely the volume of music that he objected to.  He requested that the volume be limited and the duration of the live music sessions be set to a maximum of 2.5 hours including breaks for the band and a possible over-run of the set.

All parties were given to opportunity to ask questions of the applicant.  In response Mr Miles advised that he had not had a dialogue with the premises directly, he had tolerated the noise up until the date in July when there had been three days of events in succession which prompted him to apply for the review.  As far as Mr Miles was aware all the events were outside during the summer months and inside only during the winter.  The noise issues only arose on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Mr Warne the Solicitor for Punch Taverns on behalf of Punch Taverns put the case forward for the premises starting with an overview of the legal position and the clarification of public nuisance.  Mr Swindell the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) apologised for the events in July which had led to the applicant requesting a review, he had no plans to do any further private events outside.  He did, however wish to continue the public outdoor events as these had proved to be very popular with the community.

The Solicitor for Punch Taverns stressed that they wanted to strike the balance and touched on some suggestions within the conditions including a Noise Management Plan to be agreed with Environmental Protection.  There would be no private events outside and the number of public events would be limited so that there would not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 97.

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 3 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.