Agenda item

The purpose of the report is to enable the Sub-Committee to consider an application from Dominique Robyn Maxwell for a new premises licence for Bloom, 7 The Borough, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7NA, and 1 relevant representation received from ‘Other persons’.

 Recommendation

The Sub-Committee is requested to consider the application for a premises licence on its merits.

Section 35(3) Licensing Act 2003 provides that the Sub-Committee, having regard to the relevant representations made, must take such of the following steps (if any) as it considers appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives:

•           To grant the licence subject to such conditions as are       consistent with the operating schedule modified to such          extent as the Sub-Committee considers appropriate for the             promotion of the licensing objectives, and any mandatory           conditions;

•           To exclude from the scope of the licence any of the            licensable activities to which the application relates;

•           To refuse to specify a person as the premises supervisor;

•           To reject the application.

The Sub-Committee received a report outlining an application for a new premises licence for Bloom, 7 The Borough, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7NA. 1 relevant representation from ‘other persons’ but none had been received from responsible authorities.

The application sought a new licence that would authorise the sale of alcohol for at the times shown below.

         Regulated Entertainment (Live & Recorded Music)

                             1100 to 0000 Monday to Wednesday

                             1100 to 0100 Thursday & Friday

                             1000 to 0100 Saturday

                             1000 to 2300 Sunday

         Sale of Alcohol: (On and off the premises)

                            1100 to 0000 Monday to Wednesday

                             1100 to 0100 Thursday & Friday

                             1000 to 0100 Saturday

                             1000 to 2300 Sunday

         Opening hours:

                                      1100 to 0000 Monday to Wednesday

                                       1100 to 0100 Thursday & Friday

                                       1000 to 0100 Saturday

                                       1000 to 2300 Sunday

 The Sub-Committee invited the applicant to outline their application and Members also noted the concerns from the person who made the objection.

Following the conclusion of questions, the Sub-Committee withdrew to consider the application. The Sub-Committee reconvened and the Council’s Solicitor confirmed they had been asked to advise the Sub-Committee during their deliberations on the wording of their decision which was as follows:

The Sub-Committee carefully considered the application for a new premises licence, taking into account the representation received, heard from the parties present, as well as statutory guidance and the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy.

The Sub-Committee noted that a representation had been received and was  engaged in relation to one of the four Licensing Objectives, prevention of nuisance and made the following observations:

On the balance of probabilities the Sub-Committee decided that on the evidence before them to grant the licence as it did not consider that there was sufficient substantiated evidence to reject the application. 

However, taking into account the concerns of the objectors  the Sub-Committee have added conditions to the licence as follows. The additional conditions were proportionate and appropriate in order to address and promote the licensing objectives.

The first addition, is in relation to the hours, of which the applicant had already agreed to at the hearing, to reduce the sale of alcohol by 15 minutes for all days as a “drinking up” time. This replaces the applicant’s proposal of the ‘wind down period’

The second condition was to restrict the consumption of food or drink in all outside areas of the premises to between the hours 11am to 11pm Monday to Friday, 10am to 11pm Saturday and 10am to 10pm on Sunday.

A further condition was that cans bottles / glass waste were not to be taken into the outside bin area after 11pm on weekdays and 10pm on Saturday or Sunday.

The fourth condition added to this licence was that a prominent notice was displayed on the wall above the flower bed requesting that customers kept noise to a minimum to respect the needs of local residents and requesting smokers to move to the upper area with an arrow indicating this. 

The above conditions were considered proportionate in terms of the hours and representations made.

If issues arise as a result, residents and affected persons were able to request a review which would bring the licence back for consideration.

The parties were notified that they were able to appeal to the Magistrates’ Court within 21 days  of receipt of the notification of the decision.