Agenda item

An application has been made for a new premises licence for 49 Cheap Street, Sherborne. The application has been out to public consultation.  Representations have been received. A Licensing Sub-Committee must therefore consider the application and representations at a public hearing. 

The Senior Licensing Officer introduced the application which was for the sale of alcohol on the premises, Monday to Saturday 9:00 hrs to 00:30 hrs and Sunday, 9:00 hrs to 22:30 hrs, recorded music every day from 08:00 hrs to 23:00 hrs and live music Friday and Saturday from 20:00 hrs to 22:30 hrs and Sunday 12:00 hrs to 22:30 hrs. Dorset Police had made representations requesting conditions regarding numbers of staff, staff training, incidents of a criminal nature to be reported to the Police, CCTV, etc be added to any licence granted. Environmental Protection had also made a representation requesting a condition relating to disposal of glass be added to any licence granted. The Applicant had agreed to all those conditions. No representations were received from the remaining Responsible Authorities.

 

The applicant addressed the Sub-Committee accompanied by Mr Ford. They explained that between them they had a long history of working in the licensed trade including larger high-volume pubs and had never had any issues with the Police or otherwise. They were experienced at dealing with any anti-social behaviour and wanted a safe and comfortable environment for his customers. The[LA1]  café was small and would mostly be open during the day, opening during the evening in the summer months. The closing time had changed to 11pm rather than midnight in response to the representations submitted. They wanted to work with the community and not cause any issues. They understood that Sherborne was an historic town and wanted to continue to be part of, and support, the community as they had done to date. They appreciated the proximity of the living accommodation for pupils at Sherborne School but said they had a good relationship with the school and age verification would be required under the challenge 25 scheme. They didn’t want to cause any problems for the community and would ask customers dinning in the outside space to reduce the noise if they felt it was becoming too loud. They would undertake decibel checks and reduce the music volume if necessary.  In response to questioning, they wanted to have the 9am start time for alcohol so that they could provide an Irish coffee for example, but they would exercise discretion and not be serving a pint at that time in the morning. They were amenable to having to close the outside space at an earlier time and reducing the end time that alcohol could be sold.

 

Mr Shield, the Clerk of Sherborne Town Council, spoke on behalf of the Town Council, referring to the historic nature of the town which had a strong feeling of community. The Town Council had been disappointed that the Applicant had not engaged with them following their representation, but they acknowledged the existing successful business the Applicant operated and the positive contribution it made to the area. He explained that the area didn’t have a vibrant nighttime economy and their two main concerns were public nuisance and noise early in the morning and late at night which could negatively impact the area. Use of the outside space was a particular concern. The Town Council accepted that the two responsible bodies had requested conditions, but they did not go far enough. The Town Council wanted to support the business but felt that more suitable hours for the sale of alcohol would be 11am to 11pm. 

 

All parties were given the opportunity to have their say and sum up.

 

Decision

 

To GRANT the Premises Licence with amended timings for the sale of alcohol Monday to Saturday to 09:00 to 23:00hrs and the use of the outside space to cease at 22:00. Together with the usual mandatory conditions, the conditions consistent with the Operating Schedule and requested by Dorset Police and the condition requested by Environmental Protection with the amendment that glass may only be disposed of between 08:00 and 20:00hrs.

 

The licensable activities permitted under this Premises Licence are:

 

Licensable Activity	Days and Hours		Place
Sale of alcohol         Recorded Music     Live Music	Monday to Saturday   Sunday	09:00 – 23:00 hrs   09:00 – 22:30	On the Premises         Indoors and outdoors   Indoors and[LA2]  outdoors       Indoors and outdoors
	Monday to Sunday   Friday to Saturday       Sunday	08:00 – 23:00 hrs   20:00 - 22:30 hrs       12:00 – 22:30 hrs
Non-Standard Timings/Seasonal Variations: None

 

The Premises Licence is subject to:

 

a.      Mandatory Conditions:

 

1.    Supply of Alcohol (s19(2)&(3))

No supply of alcohol may be made under the premises licence –

(a)  at a time when there is no designated premises supervisor, or

(b)  at a time when the designated premises supervisor does not hold a personal licence or his  personal licence has been suspended.

Every supply of alcohol under the premises licence must be made or authorised by a person who holds a personal licence.

 

2. (1) The premises licence holder or club premises certificate holder must ensure that an age verification policy is adopted in respect of the premises in relation to the sale or supply of alcohol.

     (2) The designated premises supervisor in relation to the premises licence must ensure that the supply of alcohol at the premises is carried on in accordance with the age verification policy.

     (3) The policy must require individuals who appear to the responsible person to be under 18 years of age (or such older age as may be specified in the policy) to produce on request, before being served alcohol, identification bearing their photograph, date of birth and either—

          (a) a holographic mark, or

          (b) an ultraviolet feature.

 

3.     A relevant person shall ensure that no alcohol is sold or supplied for consumption on or off the premises for a price which is less than the permitted price.

4.      For the purposes of the condition set out in paragraph 3—

(a) “duty” is to be construed in accordance with the Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979;

(b) “permitted price” is the price found by applying the formula— P=D+(DxV)

where—

(i)             P is the permitted price,

(ii)            D is the amount of duty chargeable in relation to the alcohol as if the duty were charged on the date of the sale or supply of the alcohol, and

(iii)      V is the rate of value added tax chargeable in relation to the alcohol as if the value added tax were charged on the date of the sale or supply of the alcohol;

(c) “relevant person” means, in relation to premises in respect of which there is in force a premises licence—

(i)       the holder of the premises licence,

(ii)       the designated premises supervisor (if any) in respect of such a licence, or

(iii)      the personal licence holder who makes or authorises a supply of alcohol under such a licence;

(d)“relevant person” means, in relation to premises in respect of which there is in force a club premises certificate, any member or officer of the club present on the premises in a capacity which enables the member or officer to prevent the supply in question; and

(e) “value added tax” means value added tax charged in accordance with the Value Added Tax Act 1994.

 

5.     Where the permitted price given by Paragraph (b) of paragraph 4 would (apart from this paragraph) not be a whole number of pennies, the price given by that sub-paragraph shall be taken to be the price actually given by that sub-paragraph rounded up to the nearest penny.

6.     (1)  Sub-paragraph (2) applies where the permitted price given by Paragraph (b) of paragraph 4 on a day (“the first day”) would be different from the permitted price on the next day (“the second day”) as a result of a change to the rate of duty or value added tax.

(2) The permitted price which would apply on the first day applies to sales or supplies of alcohol which take place before the expiry of the period of 14 days beginning on the second day.

 

b.          Conditions consistent with the Operating Schedule and Conditions requested by Dorset Police and Environmental Protection (as amended by the Sub-Committee):

 

 

7.     The Licence Holder shall ensure that at all times when the premises are open for any licensable activity, there are sufficient competent staff on duty at the premises for the purpose of fulfilling the terms and conditions of the licence and for preventing crime and disorder.

 

8.     The Licence Holder shall ensure that all staff will undertake training in their responsibilities in relation to the sale of alcohol, particularly with regard to drunkenness and underage persons. Records will be kept of training and refresher training.

 

9.     Any incidents of a criminal nature that may occur on the premises will be reported to the Police.

 

10.   The Licence Holder will install comprehensive CCTV coverage at the premises, which must be operated and maintained at the premises.

 

11.    The CCTV system shall conform to the following points:

·     Cameras must be sited to observe the entrance and exit doors both inside and   outside.

·  Cameras on the entrances must capture full frame shots of the heads and shoulders of all people entering the premises i.e. capable of identification.

·  Cameras viewing till areas must capture frames not less than 50% of screen.

·  Cameras overlooking floor areas should be wide angled to give an overview of the premises.

·  Be capable of visually confirming the nature of the crime committed.

·  Provide a linked record of the date, time and place of any image.

·  Provide good quality images in colour during opening times.

·  Operate under existing light levels within and outside the premises.

·  Have the recording device located in a secure area or locked cabinet.

·  Have a monitor to review images and recorded picture quality.

·     Be regularly maintained to ensure continuous quality of image capture retention.

·  Have signage displayed in the customer area to advise that CCTV is in operation.

·  Digital images must be kept for 31 days.

·  Police will have access to images at any reasonable time.

·  The equipment must have a suitable export method, eg CD/DVD writer so that the Police can make an evidential copy of the data they require. This data should be in the native file format, to ensure that no image quality is lost when making the copy, if this format is non-standard (i.e. manufacturer proprietary) then the manufacturer should supply the replay software to ensure that the video on the CD can be replayed by the police on a standard computer. Copies must be made available to Police on request.

 

12. All customers will be asked to leave quietly. Clear and legible notices will be prominently displayed to remind customers to leave quietly and have regard to the neighbours.

 

13. Appropriate fire safety procedures will be in place including fire extinguishers (foam, H20 and CO2), fire blanket, internally illuminated fire exit signs, numerous smoke detectors and emergency lighting (see enclosed plan for details of locations). All appliances are inspected annually. All emergency exits shall be kept free from obstruction at all times.

 

14. The Licence Holder and staff will ask persons who appear to be under the age of 25 for photographic ID such as proof of age cards, Citizen Card, photographic driving licence or passport, or an official identity card issued by HM Forces or by an EU country, bearing the photograph and date of birth of bearer. All staff will be trained for Underage Sales Prevention regularly.

 

15. Activities relating to the onsite disposal of glass (including placing into external receptacles) and bottles and recyclable materials shall only take place between 0800-2000 hours.

 

Condition Added by the Sub-Committee

 

16. Use of the outside area shall cease at 22:00hrs.