Agenda and minutes

To elect a Member to act as Chair of the meeting.

RESOLVED:             That Councillor Merrett be elected as Chair of the meeting.

At this point Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda.

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

To approve and sign the minutes of Licensing Hearing held on 2 September 2010.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the Licensing Hearing held on 2^nd September 2010 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

Members considered an application by Mrs J Robinson for the review of a premises licence in respect of The Little John, 5 Castlegate, York, YO1 9RN.

In coming to their decision the sub-committee took into consideration all of the evidence and 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 review application form.

2. The Licensing Officers report and his comments made at the hearing, including the fact that the review relates to noise complaints and the conduct of customers attending the premises.

3. The representations by the Review Applicant at the hearing including that the noise from loud music and customers had begun soon after she had sold the lease to the current proprietor. After suffering years of disturbance she had asked the Council’s Environmental Protection Unit (EPU) to install sound monitoring equipment and they had agreed the levels of noise were unacceptable. She advised that she had a 14 year old  son who is regularly disturbed from his sleep and asked that the sub-committee consider the  conditions EPU had suggested to improve the situation.

4. The representations made by City of York Council’s Senior Environmental Protection Officer who advised a number of conditions had been suggested, most of which the premises licence holder had agreed to. He advised a noise abatement order had been served on the licence holder and premises owner in September 2010 and has since been breached.

5. The representations made by the Solicitor on behalf of the holder of the premises licence including that he would be happy to make concessions such as the closure of the smoking yard and stopping customers from drinking outside after 7pm. Measures such as a noise limiter for the sound equipment and the installation of double doors at the entrance would also be acceptable. He said it was inevitable that the review applicant would hear some noise  from the premises, given that she lives over its front door. Concerns were raised in regard to the suggestion of stopping recorded music at 11pm and the  suggestion that there should be two SIA approved door supervisors and the impact that these requirements would have on the business. He also advised that the noise abatement notice is the subject of an appeal.

Members were presented with the following options:

Option 1.        Modify conditions of licence (ie to alter, omit or add any condition).

Option 2.        Exclude a licensable activity from the scope of the licence.

Option 3.        Remove the designated premises supervisor

Option 4.        Suspend the licence for a period not exceeding 3 months

Option 5.        Revoke the licence

1. Members chose Option 1 and decided to modify the conditions of the licence and imposed the following additional/modified conditions:

2. No drinking shall be permitted in the smoking area after 19:00 or any other  outside area at any time

3. Smoking should only take place in the smoking area situated to the rear of the courtyard.

4. One SIA approved door supervisor should  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61.