The report of the Head of Planning, Building Control and Licensing is attached.

The Committee heard from the applicant as to their experience, the nature of the intended business and another premises they operate in city centre. The applicant currently operates from these premises under a licence however they are wanting to do a refurbishment and will surrender their old licence if this new one is granted and when the refurbishment is then complete. The current licence is very old with very few conditions and the proposed new licence is much more comprehensive. The new licence asks for later hours however the applicant confirmed it is a food led restaurant and this is just to give customers the option of staying later.

The Committee were informed that one of the resident objectors had attended however following discussion with the applicant this morning and on being informed further of the details of the new premises they intend to open and the coverage of CCTV the resident no longer had any concerns and had left confirming via email that they no longer had any concerns.

The Committee found that there was no evidence of any current issues at the premises operated by the applicant at the same location as this application. The applicant also confirmed that they would put sufficient controls in place to ensure they would not cause a nuisance to the local residents. The applicant was happy for conditions to be added to the licence in relation to the disposal of bottles / glass and last admission to the premise to address the local councillor’s and the resident objector’s concerns. They also offered to make the contact details of the manager available to local residents and to display numbers for taxi firms that operate a call back service.

The Committee carefully considered the written representations from the resident objectors, and local councillor who were not in attendance. The Committee were of the view that with the nature of the business intending to operate at the premises and the conditions offered both in the operating schedule and at the Committee these concerns had been appropriately addressed. The Committee also noted that there was a representations in support of the application from a local resident not known to the applicant.

The Committee were satisfied that the applicant was an experienced operator and would be putting sufficient systems in place to ensure that the application, with the additional conditions, would not undermine the licensing objectives.

Decision

To grant the application with further conditions agreed at the hearing.

Conditions

1.    No bottles, glasses or similar items may be disposed of in outside receptacles between 2200 hours and 0800 hours.

2.    There shall be no admission or readmission to the premises (save for return smokers) during the hour prior to the closing time for the premises.

3.    A direct telephone number for the manager of the premises shall be publically available at all times the premises are open. This number is to be made available to residents in the vicinity.

4.    The Premises Licence Holder shall make readily available to customers taxi / private hire firm telephone numbers that use a call back system and encourage the use of such services.