Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no Declarations of Interest made.

It was confirmed that all items were Part I and would be heard in public.

None.

In the absence of the applicant or agent, Democratic services advised the Sub-Committee of possible options. As the agent had informed Democratic Services that they were unable to attend the Sub-Committee had the option to hold the hearing in the applicant's absence based on the material supplied, or adjourn the hearing. The sub-committee decided to proceed with consideration of the application as it had been submitted.

Introduction by Licensing Officer

Ian Meens, Licensing Officer, introduced the application for a new premises licence for the Orange Peel Pub, Pield Heath Road, and noted items in the addendum including:

·         Hours of licensed operation for two nearby public houses and two off-licences.

·         The omitted address of a resident who had made representation.

·         That playing recorded music did not form part of this application.

·         That there had been 8 rather than 7 representations from the general public.

The premises in question was a detached building currently empty and formerly a Public House. The application sought to licence the ground floor only and have the first floor available for the business supporting the licensable activities of the ground floor.

The proposed hours would have been similar but not identical hours to those the premises previously held.  The application was for the sale of alcohol and late night refreshment. A previous application for the premises was submitted in September 2015 when it was not accepted and returned. That application had much later operation hours which caused some local concern.

Eight local residents had made representations. The police initially made a representation which they later withdrew when certain conditions were met and agreed by the applicants. There were no other representations from statutory Authorities.

Additional photos of the car park, local shops and area opposite the pub were circulated. The officer also referred to the times of operation for two of the nearest Public Houses, The Hut and the Crown at Colham Green, both of which had licensed hours that were later than those of the application, and two licensed off licence premises opposite the Orange Peel, McCalls and Royal Food and Wine. 

Representation made by the Applicant

The agent had advised Democratic Services that they were unable to attend the meeting.

Representations made by Responsible Authorities

No responsible authorities were in attendance or had made prior representation.

Ian Meens confirmed that Metropolitan Police Services had withdrawn their representation because the Applicant had accepted the conditions proposed by the Metropolitan Police Services. 

Representations by Interested Parties

Ms Alison Porter addressed the sub-committee on behalf of the residents who had submitted relevant representations.  She agreed that in light of the timings granted to premises in the vicinity, the times requested by the Applicant were reasonable.

However, she felt the application did not take into account the inconvenience caused to residents with regard to vehicles in residential areas with limited parking space and/or using residents' driveways to make u-turns.  The lights from cars shining into residential homes late at night are likely to cause disturbance to residents.  She  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.