Agenda and minutes

Resolved:           That Councillor Mercer be elected to Chair 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.

Members were asked to declare any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests, any prejudicial interests or any disclosable pecuniary interests.  No further interests were declared.

Members considered an application by the Stonegate Pub Company Limited for the Variation of a Premises Licence Section 35(3)(a) in respect of Popworld, George Hudson Street, York.

In coming to their decision, the Sub-Committee took into consideration all the evidence and submissions that were presented, and determined their relevance to the issues raised and the above licensing objectives, including:

1.      The application form, in particular the existing licence conditions and the additional steps agreed to be taken by the applicant to promote the four licensing objectives.

2.      The following late evidence received from the Applicant’s Solicitors, circulated prior to and at the hearing (with the consent of all parties):

·               Evidence bundle, including

o        background information on the Stonegate Pub Company and a copy of their Licensing Manual

o        details of recent Temporary Event Notice events

o        correspondence with the representors

·               Document setting out amendments to the application in relation to non-standard timings and the door staff condition as agreed with the Police

·               Correspondence from the City of York Council Environmental Health Officer relating to two historic noise complaints received by Environmental Protection in respect of Popworld from 2014

3.      The Licensing Manager’s report and the Senior Licensing Officers comments made at the Hearing. The Committee received an outline of the application and had been advised that the premises were located within the special policy area. That there were no planning issues and that consultation had been carried out correctly. They had also received confirmation of the Police agreement to non-standard timings and the addition of a door staff condition.

4.      The applicants representations made at the hearing which including clarification of agreement of the non standard timings and door staff condition agreed by the Police.  The fact that the Manager of Popworld had run the premises for 13 years and that he was committed to working with the local community and that he fully understood the challenges around the premises being situated in a special policy area. That all internal noise would be contained by the acoustic lobby and triple glazing installed 10 years ago and that during that time only 2 noise complaints had been received by the EPU, both of which had been satisfactorily resolved. That Popworld customers had often not finished their evening at 2pm and wished to stay longer at the venue. Reference to other venues in the area which stayed open later and that retention of customers at the premises would assist in managing noise problems in the vicinity and in customer dispersal later in the evening. Confirmation that the premises were not full at the end of the evening (approximately a third of the capacity - 80 customers weekdays and 100/120 weekends). Confirmation that the Manager and door staff supervised entry, exit and queuing, with barriers erected at weekends. That an extension of hours had been obtained for Stonegate Pub Company’s premises in Preston, Doncaster and Portsmouth following which no representations had been received. Confirmation that the applicants were confident that they could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.