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.
Minutes:
Decision: That the press and the public be excluded for the following item(s) 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).
Decision: To
Issue a Counter Notice
Reason for Decision:
The Sub-Committee carefully considered the
documents presented to it, and the oral statements made by the parties attending
the hearing. They had regard to the Licensing Objectives, the Section
182 Statutory Guidance, and the Dorset Council Statement of Licensing Policy
2021-2026.
The Sub-Committee heard from Mr Horton
(applicant) and Mr Ravenscroft (a director of the business), who stated that
they wanted the additional 2 hours on the mornings of 30 and 31 October under
the TEN for a Halloween event at the premises. Mr Ravenscroft explained that
they had run Halloween events at another premises for
a number of years and wanted to continue that having purchased No 10 Café Bar
earlier this year. Mr Ravenscroft and Mr
Horton said that they would comply with the license conditions during the
additional hours and had stated so on the TEN.
Mr Ravenscroft said that he was not aware of the 2018 noise complaint
and taking the recent noise complaint seriously. He is trying to work out how to control noise
from the premises and is considering a temporary porch structure for inside the
front door; but is finding if difficult because the building is listed. He stated that music would be turned down
after 2am. He also thought that later opening would help dispersal of customers
because they were likely to leave gradually after 2am rather than leave on mass
at 4am.
Mr Horton said that he uses a sound meter to
measure sound levels outside the premises every hour and more often if he
could. He has a rough idea of the normal
background noise level and tried to keep the difference to between 5 and 10 dB
above that and he did not know whether the sound meter was A weighted or Fast
weighted.
The Sub-Committee heard from Jane Williams
from Dorset Council’s Environmental Protection Team,
who stated that an objection notice had been submitted due to ongoing noise
complaints received about the premises from people living nearby which had
resulted in a noise abatement notice being issued on 18 October 2021. The notice had been served due to the poor
control of music and voices which she said reflected on the management of the
premises. The Environmental Protection
Team were concerned that the TEN is for two consecutive nights until the very
early hours. Mr Horton asked whether the
noise abatement notice could relate to a particular DJ who had refused to turn
down his music so that the premises no longer employed him. Ms Williams explained that the noise
abatement notice had been served after a number of
incidents and not a one-off event.
The Sub-Committee heard from John Bean from
Dorset Police, who referred to the written objection from Sgt Gosling and
stated that an objection notice had been submitted due to concern that if the
event went ahead the premises license conditions should be imposed and a
hearing following an objection is the only way to achieve this.
The Sub-Committee was concerned about the very
recent service of a noise abatement notice on the premises. The Sub-Committee
was further concerned that no active steps had been taken or were being
undertaken to mitigate the noise impacts from the property in the light of the noise
abatement notice.
The Sub-Committee considered that given the
information put forward by Dorset Police and particularly the Dorset Council
Environmental Protection Team, it was appropriate to issue a Counter Notice in
this instance. To allow the event to go ahead would undermine the licensing
objective of the prevention of public nuisance. The Sub-Committee took account
of the comments from Jane Williams about the noise abatement notice and the
event extending until 4am for two consecutive nights. The Sub-Committee considered that there was a
high risk that people living in the neighbouring properties would be subject to
noise nuisance, including from customers using the outdoor area, into the very
early hours of Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Any party wishing to
appeal the decision had 21 days from the date of receipt of the decision notice
to submit an appeal to Weymouth Magistrates Court. However, no appeal
could be brought later than five working days before the day on which the event
period specified in the temporary event notice began.