Agenda item

Consideration was given to the report of the Senior Licensing Officer regarding an application to vary the Premises Licence in respect of The Grand Hotel, South Church Road, Bishop Auckland, Co Durham (for copy of report, see file of minutes).

A copy of the application, location plan and supporting documents had been circulated.

The Senior Licensing Officer, advised the Sub-Committee that Mrs Jave and Miss Smith who had objected to the application had indicated that they were unable to attend the meeting but had asked for a statement to be read out.

The Senior Licensing Officer, circulated a copy of the statement to all parties and read out the statement.

Mr Smith, the Applicant presented his case and indicated that he purchased the property in February 2015 which is a Grade II listed building. He had been a customer for 15 years and had seen many landlords come and go. The residents in the surrounding area were decent people and the premises were located off the beaten track so did not have passing trade.

The premises were an asset to the community and he had received the support from neighbours. His aim was to have a clientele similar to that of Weatherspoon’s which would attract customers of all ages who would enjoy themselves.

The current licence meant that customers left to go to an alternative venue which was open much later. They had no history of been a problem premises and they wanted to extend the hours to allow customers to leave on a more staggered basis and to allow them flexibility.

He referred to the objections that had been received which were expected as they had been patrons of the public house but he had barred them due to comments they had made on social media. He then referred to the former chef who had been dismissed who was close friends with the objectors and how the police had to be called three times when she was evicted. The former chef had also indicated to him that she would ensure that they would not get the licence and that his windows would be put out which happened 2 days later. The objectors live in the terraced house but other residents in the area had supported the application.

He then referred to noise issues and indicated that this was not an issue and when he was a customer there were live bands on every Saturday but he only had a live band on every other week and the noise from these events were not classed as a nuisance.

He had made improvements to the road leading to the property, they close doors and windows when they have events and he has notices displayed outside to remind patrons to respect the neighbours and he goes outside to remind customers of this.

He referred to the one occasion when a customer had been found at the side of the road and that he was not drunk but had a bump on his head earlier that day and felt unwell.

No complaints had been made direct to him and commented that it was not possible to eliminate all noise but generally there was no noise. On 3 July 2016, he moved the karaoke to a different room as the music room was parallel with the terraced houses and they wanted to reduce the impact of noise.

Under the present licence bands can play until 11.45 pm and he was asking for this to be increased to midnight but generally bands would finish at 11.30 pm. The revised times had been agreed by the Police and Environmental Health.

He proposed to have a beer garden until 9.00 pm or sunset but this would not be complete until next year but they hoped to use the beer garden for food and barbecues and an overflow.

He stated that no objections had been received from the remaining responsible authorities or the remaining households in the terraced houses.

In summary, the Applicant indicated that he would promote the four licensing objectives and he would continue to work with his neighbours and customers. He appreciated that the licence could be reviewed at any time should it be granted and asked the Sub-Committee to grant the licence.

Councillor Gunn asked the Applicant for clarification on the police been called to the premises on three occasions.

The Applicant responded that the police had been called to the premises three times in the same day. All three incidents were in relation to the former chef who had been asked to leave. He had barred the former chef and her family from the premises and had to telephone the police on three occasions when they returned to the premises after they had been barred.

Councillor Kellett sought clarification if the premises had soundproofing. The Applicant responded that the building was a Grade II listed building but they had installed soundproofing on the middle floor and they drew the curtains to help with the noise. He indicated that they could get the curtains double lined to help with the noise but he did not think that they could install double glazing because of the listed building status.

The Chairman sought clarification if any representations had been made by Environmental Health. The Senior Licensing Officer advised the Sub-Committee that the noise team had no comments but had indicated that if noise occurred from the beer garden next year then they would investigate.

At 11.25 am the Sub-Committee retired to deliberate the application in private. After re-convening at 11.35 am the Chair delivered the Sub-Committee’s decision. In reaching their decision Members had taken into account the written and verbal representations of the Applicant and the written representations of other persons. Members also considered the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy and Section 182 Guidance issued by the Secretary of State.

Resolved:

That the application to vary the premises licence be granted as follows:-

The following conditions are imposed:

The Prevention of Crime and Disorder

·       No serving of alcohol to any person who appears to be drunk;

·       Full initial staff training to be carried out by DPS to ensure no alcohol is sold to anyone underage and refresher training to be carried out every 6 months;

·       Training records to be kept for every member of staff and endorsed after every training session. The records will be made available to officers and responsible authorities when requested to do so;

·       CCTV will be provided in the form of a recordable system capable of providing pictures particularly facial recognition. Cameras shall encompass all entrances and exits to the premises where the sale/supply of alcohol occurs.

Public Safety

·       All plans and evacuation procedures will be posted and given to staff as part of their training;

·       All fire exits shall be identified and marked as per the appropriate British Standard;

·       A daily log will be kept that identifies any problems and incidents;

·       First Aid equipment and treatment will be provided;

·       The number of persons on the licensed premises will be limited to 200.

The Prevention of Public Nuisance

·       Congregation of people outside of the premises will be discouraged;

·       After 23.00 hours no extra persons will be admitted onto the premise;

·       After 23.00 hours any persons leaving the premises will be escorted out and encourage to leave quietly.

The Protection of Children from Harm

·       A challenge 25 Policy will be operated in the premises. Acceptable forms of identification will be a passport, photocard driving licence or PASS accredited identification card i.e. ID4U;

·       A Refusal Register will be kept and endorsed after every sale refused. This should be maintained and will be produced to a relevant officer of the Police or a relevant officer of a responsible authority upon request. This is also to include over 18s purchasing alcohol and passing it to under 18s;

·       No 18 to 20 year old birthday parties will be held on the premises while alcohol is available.