Agenda and draft minutes

Resolved:           That Councillor Aspden be elected as Chair of the meeting.

At this point in the meeting, Members are asked to declare:

·        any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests

·        any prejudicial interests or

·        any disclosable pecuniary interests

which they may have in respect of business on this agenda.

At this point in the meeting, Members were asked to declare any personal, prejudicial or pecuniary interests they may have in the business on the agenda. None were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of Licensing Hearing held on 15^th January 2015.

Resolved:           That the minutes of the Licensing Hearing held on the 15^th January 2015 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

Members considered an application by City of York Council to vary a premises licence in respect of the Footstreet Area of York including Exhibition Square.

In coming to their decision, Members took into consideration all of the evidence and the submissions that were presented to them and determined their relevance to the issues raised and the Licensing Objectives. The following were taken into account:

1.   The application form.

2.   The Licensing Officer’s report and her comments made at the Hearing. She advised that the application was to vary the existing licence to extend the terminal hour for all licensable activities. Representations from CYC Licensing Authority and CYC Public Protection Units had been withdrawn upon the applicant agreeing to certain conditions being attached to the licence if granted. No representations had been received from the other responsible authorities. Consultation had been carried out correctly.

3.   The representations made by an Officer from  the Council’s Events department  at the hearing. He advised that the application had been made to cover the whole of the existing licensed area following advice from the Licensing Department but following discussions with the Council’s Environmental Protection Unit and Ward Member, it was considered practical to limit the extension of hours and licensable activities to Parliament Street and St Samson’s Square only. It was also acceptable to limit the extension to just the duration of the Yorkshire Fringe Festival and Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays preceding a Bank Holiday. As such the application was amended at the hearing to reflect these suggested changes.

4.   The representations made in writing and at the hearing by the Ward Councillor. He raised concerns about noise in the city centre streets late at night, particularly as there has been an increase in the number of residential properties in the city centre in recent years. The amendments to the application went some way to alleviate his concerns but he suggested limiting the number of days per year that the extension of hours could be used.

5.   The representations made in writing and at the hearing by two local residents. One of these  raised concerns about alleged procedural irregularities, including in relation to the consultation process as it was felt that every street included in the application area should have been detailed on the site notice to enable the public to clearly see the affected footstreets. The Licensing Manager confirmed the site notice had been completed and displayed correctly. Concerns were also raised that in outside areas, sound attenuation could not be achieved by the Environmental Protection Unit’s suggested conditions. Councillor Looker was in attendance on behalf of one of the local residents and advised that other concerns included the impact of further availability of alcohol in an area which is already a Cumulative Impact Zone and the blanket nature of the application initially.

Members were presented with the following options:

Option 1     Grant the licence variation in the terms applied for.

Option 2     Grant the licence variation with modified/additional conditions.

Option 3     Grant  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.