Agenda and minutes

Venue: Meeting Room A and B - Charringtons House, Bishop's Stortford. View directions

Contact: Peter Mannings  Tel: (01279) 502174 Email:  peter.mannings@eastherts.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Appointment of Chairman

Minutes:

It was moved by Councillor B Deering and seconded by Councillor J Jones that Councillor R Brunton be appointed Chairman for the meeting.  After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED - that Councillor R Brunton be appointed Chairman for the meeting.

2.

Chairman's Announcements

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting and apologised for the short delay in starting the meeting.  The Chairman referred to a change in the Membership of the Sub-Committee.

3.

Minutes - 28 March 2018 pdf icon PDF 31 KB

To approve the Minutes of Previous Sub-Committee meetings:

 

28 March 2018

Minutes:

It was moved by Councillor J Jones and seconded by Councillor B Deering that the Minutes of the meeting held on 28 March 2018 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.  After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED. 

 

RESOLVED – that the Minutes of the meeting held on 28 March 2018 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

4.

Application for Variation of the Premises Licence for Bacchus, Anchor Street , Bishop's Stortford, CM23 3BP pdf icon PDF 67 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman outlined the procedure to be followed.  All those present were introduced.  The Service Manager (Licensing and Enforcement) summarised the application adding that during the consultation period, three responses had been received, two of which had been from local Councillors.  The third response had been withdrawn. 

 

The Solicitor for the applicant summarised the current variation request and outlined the applicant’s licensing background.  From the viewpoint of noise nuisance, he emphasised the fact that the premises were purpose built and currently 34 conditions were observed, in addition to the mandatory licensing conditions.  He referred to comments which had been submitted about fears of noise nuisance, adding that a local club which had recently closed often had left its doors and windows open allowing noise to escape from the building. 

 

The Solicitor assured Members that controls were in place and their wish to be able to open on a Monday evening until 2am to accommodate shift workers and air crew from Stansted Airport.  He added that air crew on a Monday evening, were more mature than the client base at weekends.  It was noted that Bacchus had been opening on a Monday until 2am, under TENS arrangements for the last nine Mondays and there had been no complaints from local residents or from responsible authorities.

 

Members referred to the discontinuance of the taxi marshalling scheme and were advised that door staff acted as Taxi Marshalls as required.  The General Manager confirmed the good relationship he had with local residents and that regular meetings were held with them.  Councillor B Deering suggested that some meetings might fall into decay if residents felt that their concerns were not being addressed.  The General Manager confirmed that there had been two residents who had attended the last meeting to raise unrelated issues such as residents’ light bulbs.  He stressed that he saw local residents regularly and that there was ample opportunity to raise concerns if they had any.

 

The Solicitor confirmed that in the past two years the Police had been called out on three separate occasions but this had not necessitated crime scene preservation.  The General Manager stated that the Police had been called only when he felt a situation was escalating and that assistance was needed to protect the staff and public and to calm down a situation.  The Sub- Committee was reminded of what conditions were currently in place in terms of addressing licensing objectives.

 

Councillor J Jones sought and was provided with clarification about the arrangements for smokers.  The Solicitor explained that this was controlled by Door Supervisors.  Councillor B Deering posed the question as to whether the applicant was prepared to offer any new conditions.  The Sub-Committee was reminded that Bacchus currently observed 34 conditions in addition to the mandatory ones, that no nuisance was being caused and that this was not considered to be necessary.

 

A Member queried whether Bacchus might swap their current opening arrangements e.g. a Thursday for a Monday.  The Solicitor suggested that if this was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.