Decisions

Reason for Decision

The lease required us to give permission as the requirements are met.

 

Alternative options considered and rejected

The Delegated Powers clearly gives the authority,  the delegated powers the obvious way forward.

 

Decision

A Licence to assign the 60 year lease at 2 The Esplanade, Weymouth.

 

Reason for Decision

Accords with committee resolution having agreed the wording of the conditions with the Chair.

 

Alternative options considered and rejected

None required as decision being made in accordance with committee resolution.

 

Decision

The Western and Southern Area Planning Committee on 5^th November 2020 resolved to delegate authority to the Head of Planning to grant planning permission subject to planning conditions as set out in the officer report and presented to the committee at the meeting and two additional conditions regarding a construction environmental management plan to be approved and implemented and a scheme for car charging points to be approved and implemented, with those conditions to be drafted in conjunction with the chair of the planning committee.

 

On 10^th November 2020 the draft wording of the conditions as suggested by officers were provided to the chair who agreed with the wording of the conditions as follows:

 

Construction environment management plan condition:

 

Prior to the commencement of any development, including demolition, hereby approved, a Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) must be submitted to and agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The CEMP must include details of the following, including plans showing the location of the facilities:

 

•           A contractors storage area and compound

•           Hours of deliveries, hours of demolition, hours of construction

•           Pollution prevention measures from demolition

•           Wheel cleaning facilities to prevent mud on the road

•           Prevention of noise disturbance through site management

 

Thereafter the development must be carried out in accordance with the approved CEMP.

 

Reason: In the interests of neighbouring amenity.

 

Car charging condition:

 

No development above damp-proof course level shall be carried out until a detailed scheme to enable the charging of plug-in and other ultra-low emission vehicles in safe, accessible and convenient locations within the development has been submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority. The submitted details shall include a timetable for the implementation of the scheme. Thereafter the development shall be carried out in accordance with such details and timetable as have been approved by the local planning authority.

 

REASON: To ensure that adequate provision is made to enable occupiers of and visitors to the development to be able to charge their plug-in and ultra-low emission vehicles.

The Licensing Team Leader introduced the application for a new premises licence for 38 Maiden Street, Weymouth. The application described the premises as a town centre restaurant and bar and sought permission for live and recorded music, late night refreshment and alcohol supply.  The Team Leader clarified the times sought on the application.

 

The Licensing Team Leader referred to the two Statutory Instruments that created the new Dorset Council and extended the life of the current polices until 31 March 2021. These were the Local Government (Structural Changes) (Transitional Arrangements)(No.2) Regulations 2018 and the Local Government (Structural Changes) (General)(Amendment) Regulations 2018. The Team Leader explained that as these SIs extended the life of the predecessor Council’s policies until 31 March 2021 the current Cumulative Impact Policy contained within the 2014-2019 policy for the Weymouth Borough Council is still in effect and should be followed unless there is a good reason as to why it should be disregarded.

 

The Team Leader drew the sub-committee’s attention to paragraph 6.12.2 of the Cumulative Impact Policy and the regulations within.

 

There were no questions for the Team Leader at this stage.

 

The Applicant was invited to present his case to the sub-committee.  He explained that there would be background music only in a rum themed bar with a caribbean style restaurant with a takeaway service, aimed at couples.  He was looking for a late-night licence up to midnight only.  The delivery service would be run from a dark kitchen with delivery service only. 

 

In response to sub-committee questions the Applicant re-iterated that the premises would consist of a small rum bar for drinks before and after food.  The food for both restaurant and takeaway would be caribbean based and delivered by an official delivery company.  The applicant had been in the licensing trade previously but not for some time.  There would be door staff, age limits and no groups in the premises. The numbers in the restaurant and bar would be staggered. 

 

The Service Manager Licensing & Community Safety asked if the building had been signed off by the Fire Officer and Building Control, the applicant advised that would not been possible until the building was in his name.

 

The Service Manager Licensing & Community Safety addressed the sub-committee.  The starting position for the Local Authority was that any new premises within a Cumulative Impact Zone (CIZ) should be refused unless the authority was content that it would not add to the problems in the area.  This was an existing problem area with numerous issues and a difficult bar to run.  He had seen nothing in the application to convince him that the premises would not add to the problems in the area.  There have been multiple issues with the premises which resulted in the expedited review earlier in the year.  There had been no consultation with the Licensing Authority prior to the application which was a direct contravention to section 182 guidance issued by the Secretary of State.  Having checked the business rates, Mr Jamie Lyons (the previous owner) was still the registered rate payer for the premises.  The Service Manager Licensing & Community Safety concluded that the premises should not have a licence granted or be allowed to sell alcohol, it had been a magnet for crime and disorder and the area was already saturated with licensed premises.

 

The Environment Health Officer voiced his concerns that it would be difficult to change the reputation of the premises.  Amplified background music could be as loud as a live band and there were still concerns over noise issues.  The Environmental Health Officers have had to deal with a large number of complaints from the area, noise and public order offences.  He had strong concerns about the application.

 

The representative from Dorset Police detailed the history of the premises and the Summary Review due to serious crime.  The licence had been revoked by the Licensing Authority due to the amount of crime in the area.  Mediation was encouraged prior to application but there had been no previous contact from the applicant.  The police were supportive of the CIZ and considered this application to be very much akin to the previous offering, there were concerns regarding Mr Barker’s experience especially with the bar being extremely challenging.  If a licence was granted it would be associated to the premises, for which Mr Lyons was still the lease holder, in effect the licence could be transferred back to Mr Lyons.  Since the premises had been closed the crime rates in the area had reduced and this application was along the lines of the same offering. 

 

The Licensing Team Leader clarified the Policy being used was the 2014 – 2019 Policy which stated that the exceptions could be a premises with the capacity of 50 or less who intended to operate between the hours of 10.00 to 23.00 or premises which were not alcohol lead and operated between the hours of 08.00 to 22.00.

 

The representative from Dorset Fire & Rescue addressed the sub-committee.  The building was old and structurally difficult to maintain.  In the original application the fire details had been poorly outlined and only covered part of the building which had caused some concerns.  Since the original representation he had received a copy of the fire risk assessment which appeared to be far reaching but there were still concerns over the use of the first floor of the building.  Dorset Fire & Rescue would request that the actions in the assessment were implemented at the earliest opportunity and the building was structurally sound and signed off by Building Control.  There were concerns that the building at the present time would not support occupation.

 

Cllr Orrell addressed the sub-committee on behalf of Weymouth Town Council who had recommended rejection of the application.  As Ward Councillor he was also aware that the CIZ was a problem area for residents whose lives were blighted by people leaving these premises.  He urged the sub-committee to reject the application.

 

The Respect Weymouth representative spoke on behalf of 34 members of the immediate community who had all contributed to the report.  Numerous problems had arisen from this building for 5 years until the licence was revoked, although this was a small bar it had been the most damaging to the area.  The area was already at saturation point.  Residents had been forced to move home and landlords had been unable to rent properties due to the problems.

 

All parties were given the opportunity to sum up their cases.

 

Proposed by Cllr Parker, seconded by Cllr Andrews.

 

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).

 

The sub-committee retired to make their decision.

 

Decision: To REFUSE the Premises Licence

 

The Sub-Committee carefully considered all of the documents presented them and all of the written and oral representations made by all parties.  They had regard to the four Licensing Objectives, the Section 182 Statutory Guidance and the Dorset Council (Weymouth) Statement of Licensing Policy 2016.

 

Reasons for Decision:

 

The premises are located within an area where a Cumulative Impact Policy applies. The Statement of Licensing Policy sets out that this special policy will create a rebuttable presumption that applications for new premises licences that are likely to add to the existing cumulative impact will normally be refused, unless the applicant can demonstrate why the operation of the premises involved will not add to the cumulative impact or otherwise impact adversely on the promotion of the licensing objectives. The policy is not absolute and the Sub-Committee is required to consider the circumstances of each application on its merits.

 

In this particular case the Sub-Committee noted that the applicant stated the premises are relatively small and would accommodate up to between 45 and 50 people and that the premises would be primarily a restaurant rather than alcohol led.  The Sub-Committee also took account of the fact that the applicant had reduced the sale of alcohol from his original application by one hour to end at midnight rather than 01:00 and similarly had reduced his application for late night refreshment to end at 04:00 rather than 05:00. The Sub-Committee nevertheless felt that the grant of the application would undermine the licensing objectives of the prevention of crime and disorder and the prevention of public nuisance given the terminal hours and that conditions would be an ineffective solution.  The Sub-Committee also noted the concerns regarding the safety of the premises as set out by the Fire Authority.  The Sub-Committee was of the opinion that granting the application would add to the cumulative impact and the measures set out in the operating schedule were inadequate bearing in mind the representations from the responsible authorities.   

 

 

 

 

 

Reason for Decision

A major fire on Sunday 15 November 2020 at a Dorset Council waste depot resulted in 21 Refuse Collection Vehicles (RCVs) being destroyed. This has created an urgent need to source and procure pre-used RCVs as replacements to swiftly remove the dependency of hiring replacements, in order to maintain vital waste services, as this is not economically viable for the Council. This does not give Dorset Council sufficient time to comply with standard open procedure timescales for this procurement. The Council considers this to be a state of urgency which it has duly substantiated. Accordingly, the Council is using the accelerated time limits permitted under the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (regulation 27.5 for the open procedure) in respect of this procurement.

 

This delegated decision is being taken in accordance with Scheme of Delegation item 32 (Chief Officer decisions in cases of urgency). There is an urgent and pressing financial need to take the decision and commence procurement which cannot wait until the next available meeting of Cabinet.

 

Alternative options considered and rejected

Long and short term vehicle hire; and

Procurement of new vehicles.

Decision

To procure pre-used Waste Collection vehicles via an open accelerated procedure in accordance with Reg 27.5 where a state of an urgency (emergency) can be substantiated by the contracting authority. This will allow tender return to be only 15 days following publish of OJEU Contract Notice. Budget implications £1,242,193 to be met from Dorset Council Insurance fund.

 

Cllr. Spencer Flower, Cllr. Ray Bryan and Cllr Jill Haynes have been consulted.

 

Reason for Decision

The Licence if a renewal

 

Alternative options considered and rejected

The Delegated powers clearly gives the authority the delegated powers the obvious way forward.

 

Decision

A Licence for I year, UC ISO QinetiQ, The Peninsular, The Esplanade, Weymouth.

Reason for the Decision

·         The  Minerals Strategy 2014, with Policies Map, was adopted by Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole Councils in 2014. 

·         It has recently been noted for the first time that an error occurred when the Policies Map was being prepared, and land in the vicinity of West Moors that should have been shown as being safeguarded for minerals was not shown in this way.

·         This error has come to light as a result of enforcement action being taken at a site in this area.

·         The error needs to be corrected, in order that documents submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in support of this enforcement action are factually correct, and also to ensure that the Policies Map is accurate in spatially representing the policies of the Plan.

No-one has been disadvantaged by the error, or its correction.  No change is to be made to any of the adopted policies of the  Minerals Strategy 2014.  Case law (see below) has demonstrated that planning authorities are allowed to make factual corrections to address errors in a Policies Map, following adoption of a Plan.

 

Alternative Options considered and rejected

 

The only alternative is to do nothing, which could have future implications for misleading land owners, developers or the public, and could lead to parties being disadvantaged. 

It could also have an impact on current enforcement action, and the Council could be criticised for not taking action having discovered this error.

 

Budget Implications

 

No implications from making the correction.

 

Legal Implications

 

No implications from making the correction.

 

Reference Documents

 

The case law referred to earlier is: 

R(on the application of Douglas Bond) v Vale of White Horse District Council [2019] EWHC 3080 (Admin) in which ‘The Court held that whilst a Proposals Map may be a local development document, it is not a development plan document for the purpose of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and therefore is not subject to the procedures in the Act that require the draft to be submitted for independent examination. 

The role of the Proposals Map is to illustrate the policies in the development plan document with which it is associated.  Where the Proposals Map has been drawn up incorrectly, so that it does not illustrate the adopted policies, a correction of the map is not an alteration of the development plan document since no alteration of the development plan itself is required.

The powers in Sections 23(1), 23(5) and 26(1) of the Act were sufficiently wide to allow a correction to a Proposals Map in such circumstances’.

Decision

 

To note that a recently  identified factual error in the Policies Map of the  Minerals Strategy 2014 has been corrected.

Reason for the Decision

The rails have been put permanently out of use by Network Rail.  This network change has been agreed by government.  The now redundant rails are an ongoing safety hazard and maintenance burden to Dorset Council.  Should the scheme not go ahead within the planned window, there is the risk that Dorset Council will have to return the grant.

 

Alternative Options considered and rejected

Dorset Council has been working with Network Rail to identify a satisfactory, long term solution to the problem. 

 

Options considered include surfacing over and infilling.  An infilling trial was undertaken in 2012.  Four different options were tested, but none proved durable.  In addition, infilling only addresses on aspect of the risk (cycle wheels being caught in the void between the tracks) The slip hazard remains, and there has been no reduction in the accident rate. 

 

An option for partial removal has been considered and discounted because although it may remove the risk to cyclists at key locations, the risk remains elsewhere, and the long-term maintenance issue would remain unresolved including the presence of wooden sleepers under the carriage. 

 

Surfacing options have been discounted because they only provide a temporary solution and leave the long-term maintenance liability in place. 

 

Do nothing was ruled out as untenable due to the ongoing risk to safety, the long-term maintenance issues and the positioning of the rails precludes the development of an on-road cycle route to be developed separately as part of the town wide network.

 

Consultees

External: Network Rail, Weymouth Town Council,

Internal: Local Member, Conservation Officer and Archaeologist.  Engagement with local members

 

Budget Implications

£200,000 from the Local Transport Plan budget.  £1.137M from the Department for Transport.  £200,000 from Network Rail. (update: Network Rail given an extra £41,319 – total of £241,319) Notice amended on 21/12/2020

 

Legal Implications

The transfer of ownership of  the rails is underway and will be completed on receipt of documentation from Network Rail, who are joint funders of the scheme. We have assurances from Network Rail that they have instructed their legal representatives to effect the transfer and finance has been authorised.

 

Reference Documents

For full information about the rationale behind the scheme, see our funding bid. 

 

https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/roads-highways-maintenance/maintenance/road-maintenance/pdfs/dft-highways-maintenance-challenge-fund-tranche-2b-application-form-dorset-council.pdf

 

Decision

 

To proceed with the removal in accordance with the terms of the £1.137M Department for Transport grant – while being sensitive to the historic context.