To receive any apologies for absence.

The Clerk advised that a number of apologies for absence had been received from residents who had made representations and also advised that Councillor Haque, who was a member of the Licensing Committee, was present in place of Councillor Harper-Penman. The meeting would be Chaired by Councillor Heslop.

To note any declarations of interest made by Members, including those restricting Members from voting on the questions detailed in Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act, 1992.  See attached note from the Chief Executive.

There were no declarations of interest.

To note the rules of procedure which are attached for information.

Noted.

The Clerk advised that the letter that was tabled was self explanatory: that neither the Premises Licence holder nor anyone acting on his behalf would be attending the meeting.

Mr Hussain, Legal Officer, advised that the Sub Committee had the power to adjourn the meeting though he believed it would not be in the public interest to do so.

Members of the Sub Committee agreed to proceed with the hearing and the Chair asked the Licensing Officer to present the report. Mr Ali, Licensing Officer, duly presented the report as detailed, including the appendices and drew Members attention to the Licensing Objectives and the review procedure.

As there were no questions from Members, the Chair asked the Responsible Authorities and the residents to present their case.

Environmental Protection

Ian Pendreigh advised that the review had been initiated due to the long standing failure in managing the premises to uphold the licensing objective relating to the prevention of public nuisance. The history of problems associated with the premises was documented in the report and had arisen due to the structural limitations of the building and the wilful negligence of the licence holder to manage noise and music levels.

This had resulted in ongoing pubic nuisance to residents and since the EPA Abatement Notice was served in October 2005, the department had received 65 complaints from residents regarding loud amplified music from the premises and officers had witnessed 12 contraventions of the Notice.

Mr Pendreigh summarised the history of complaints as outlined in Appendix 10 and advised that a breach of the Abatement Notice had last been witnessed on 28^th April 2008. This constituted a wilful and repetitious failure to observe the licensing objectives.

Metropolitan Police  

Alan Cruickshank reported that the premises had a history of being a problematic venue and that whilst the Police had tried to work in partnership with the licence holder; this had not come to pass. Despite repeated attempts to work with Mr Singh he had failed to accept accountability for the operation of the licence.

PC Cruickshank also advised that there was currently no DPS at the premises and had not been since November 2007.

Planning 

Cain Duncan, Planning Enforcement Officer, reported that there was a history of failure to acquire planning permission for the premises and a failure to comply with the hours and conditions that had been set.

Planning permission had been refused for club use but granted for use as a bar until midnight with extensive conditions which were never implemented by the applicant. The premises had closed for three months during 2007 and had then reopened, breaching conditions. A stop notice had been served and the applicant subsequently taken to court for failing to comply with this.

The applicant had appealed the planning decision and the Secretary of State had upheld the refusal to operate a club and had also refused permission for use as a bar.

Mr Duncan outlined a number of the complaints that had been received and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.1