Agenda and draft minutes

RESOLVED that Councillor P D Simpson be appointed as Chair for the meeting

Members are requested to declare the existence and nature of any disclosable pecuniary interest and/or other interest in any item on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest

Application to determine the application to vary a Premises Licence.

An application to vary a premises licence under Section 34 of the Licensing Act 2003 (the ‘Act’) in respect of The Star Inn Public House, Middle Street, Nottingham was considered by the Alcohol and Entertainment Committee Licensing Panel.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions and the requirement for social distancing, the hearing took place using Microsoft Teams with each participant accessing the hearing remotely.

Once all representations had been heard and questions asked, the Committee retired to consider its decision, however unlike the usual case where the Committee would then verbally notify the participants of the decision once reached, the decision would be communicated in writing to all parties within five working days of the hearing. 

The applicant and all interested parties confirmed that they had understood the papers and procedures pertaining to the hearing.

The Panel considered the Application, representations made by the Applicant, and the representations made by the Interested Parties in relation to this application. It was noted that the applicant had agreed to conditions suggested by the Environmental Health Department as a Responsible Authority which had been circulated prior to the meeting and it is these conditions that were the subject of debate rather than the proposed conditions in the application.

The Committee also noted representations raised by the interested parties relating to the way in which the application was publicised and concerns that more should have been done to bring the application to the notice of the general public in light of the lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  These concerns were given due consideration by the Committee and after taking legal advice, the Committee was satisfied that the Notice had been substantially complied with and that no party had been prejudiced as a result of non-compliance.  It was acknowledged that there had been a minor defect in that the Notice had not also been advertised along the external perimeter of the premises abutting the highway ie along Moore Gate.  However, the Panel did not consider this to be sufficient so as to invalidate the proceedings.

The Applicant confirmed that they had amended the application to the satisfaction of the Responsible Authority and were open to further suggestions from the Panel.

The Panel also considered representations from the Environmental Health Officer who clarified the suggested agreed amendments to the proposed licensing conditions and answered extensive questions from the Interested Parties and the Panel in relation to addition sound proofing measures that had been undertaken by the applicant and technical questions relating to sound monitoring.

The Panel heard representations from a total of 12 Interested Parties who were either present at the virtual meeting or were being represented by one of the Interested Parties present.  Concerns were raised regarding the level of noise and the frequency of events.  Assurances were given by the Applicant in relation to the frequency of events and monitoring levels of noise.

The Panel was satisfied that a ‘directed discussion’ had taken place between the Applicant and the Interested Parties.

After all the representations  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.