The report of the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing is enclosed.

The Hearing Panel considered a report from the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing concerning an application for a Premises Licence Variation. The Hearing Panel considered the written papers of the parties submitted and the oral representations of the parties who attended, as well as the relevant legislation.

The applicants addressed the Hearing Panel and stated that Black Milk was created as a safe haven in the city centre, to be different from the drink led establishments in the Northern Quarter and that one of the applicants had autistic siblings and Black Milk would be an appropriate place for them. The responsible authorities had made agreements with Black Milk on the licensing objectives and now removed their representations and suggested a multi-point plan for the premises. In recent years, Covid and the following years had affected the business badly and this was now in debt. The business had worked out that they could create £50,000 revenue if the variation was granted. This would clear the debt, create jobs and clear loans. The premises needed this variation in order to survive in the hospitality business. There had been no crime and disorder associated with the venue and the applicants were aware that noise appeared to be the main concern with objectors. In terms of outdoor noise, the premises were already bringing outdoor seating to a close at 22:00 hours, smoking seemed likely to be banned outside venues in recent Government proposals and, therefore, any noise emanating from outside the premises was not as a result of their operations. As for internal noise, the premises had had visits from the Licensing Out Of Hours (LOOH) Team due to complaints. The premises now runs with a small, Bluetooth speaker, decibel limited with the bass frequencies minimised. The responsible authorities had attended and offered no concerns regarding this sound set up. The premises had caused one noise incident for a commercial take-over event at the venue, they had learned from this incident and would not repeat any such incidents in future. All music would be at background level. The business does need to be popular but this needs to be mitigated against the impact on residents.

A resident objector attended and put questions to the applicants.

The applicants responded to questions by stating that:

• One of them was a promotor at a Manchester nightclub for 3 to 4 years and had experience in sound levels, hence they had deployed the use of a foam pad to cushion bass vibrations from the sound system. Furthermore, rubber stoppers had been placed on the feet of the refrigeration units as these can also create a low-frequency hum.
• The premises is a family friendly environment and staff had been trained in inappropriate sound levels
• There would be no amplified music for any future events nor any upgrade to the current sound system
• The business would speak to residents individually and they were aware of both residents above at the front and rea of the building. Speakers had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

The report of the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing is enclosed.

The Hearing Panel were informed that all remaining representations had been agreed. The Committee was invited to grant the variation application. 

Decision

To grant the variation in the following terms:

Remove Condition 1 of Annex 2 in relation to capacity

Additional conditions to be attached to the operating schedule:

1. Management/staff to carry out hourly noise breakout checks during operational hours and documented.

2. If a member of management or door staff witness a customer illegally parking in the immediate vicinity in front of the premises, they shall be refused entry until they have moved their car.

Condition 54 of Annex 2 (which currently reads “A dispersal and smoking policy will be implemented and adhered to (see attached”) is replaced instead with the following:

Smoking:

1. Whilst the premises is open and there is a queue, the designated smoking area shall be located on the other side of the road, away from the entrance to the premises.

2. When there is no queue, the designated smoking area shall be located immediately outside the premises, in the location where the queue usually forms.

3. The areas will be clearly delineated and will be monitored at all times by at least 1 SIA registered security.

4. The smoking area will close 30 minutes prior to the premises closing and if patrons leave the premises to smoke after this time, they will not be allowed to re-enter the premises.

5. The areas shall be covered by the CCTV system which will be installed at the premises.

6. The area will be cleaned at regular intervals and at the end of any trading period.

7. Suitable receptacles shall be provided for smokers to dispose of cigarette butts.

8. Customers leaving the premises to smoke will be stamped to identify them. However, smokers re-entering the premises shall be subject to searches in accordance with any search policy in force at the premises.

Dispersal:

1. At the end of the evening management and staff will assist with the orderly and gradual dispersal of patrons.

2. Staff Members (including SIA registered security, when employed) will advise patrons to leave the premises quickly and quietly out of respect for neighbours.

3. Notices will be displayed requesting our customers to leave quietly and in an orderly manner out of consideration to neighbours and their attention will be drawn to these notices by members of staff.

4. Management and staff will ensure the removal of all bottles and drinking receptacles from any patron before exiting the premises (this does not apply in the case of alcohol sold in sealed containers for the purpose of consumption off the premises).

5. Management and staff will actively discourage our customers from assembling outside the premises at the end of the evening.

6. A suitable member of staff or security (when employed) will be visible at each public entrance/exit to control the dispersal, to remind people to leave quietly, and to prevent patrons from re-entering the premises.

7. Security and management to use their  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.