Minutes:
Mrs Knights presented the case on behalf of the Other Persons present. She stated that if the application was granted it would allow for the sale of alcohol beyond the shops current trading hours. She felt that this would cause anti-social behaviour and was unnecessary. She stated that there was enough drinking on the street in this area, which led to unpleasant activities such as vandalism and attempted break-ins. Mrs Knights commented that it was unreasonable for residents to have to put up with this sort of behaviour. Mrs Knights referred to the other licensed premises in the area and felt that there were too many in a residential area.
Mrs Knights referred to the application which stated that the Applicant would maintain the front of the premises by regular sweeping. Mrs Knights stated that his was not currently the case and there was rubbish and broken tiles at the front of the shop.
Mrs Knights commented that she would have liked to question the Responsible Authorities and ask them if they had visited the premises. She asked how the relevant authorities would check that conditions were being met if the application was successful and asked if they would investigate public nuisance complaints.
The Chairman thanked Mrs Knights for putting forward the Other Persons case and invited questions from the Licensing Manager. The Licensing Manager offered to clarify some of the points put forward by Mrs Knights. He explained that unlike previous legislation, the Licensing Act did not categorise alcohol, so there were no restrictions on the type of alcohol which could be sold if the application was granted. He confirmed that a copy of the full application was sent to all of the Responsible Authorities for their review. Any response from the Responsible Authorities was then a matter for their own judgement. None of the Responsible Authorities had made representations.
The Licensing Manager clarified that the Responsible Authorities were responsible for enforcement to ensure that the applicant remained compliant if the application was granted through partnership working. Risk based visits were conducted as and when required.
The Chairman invited questions from the Applicant’s Representative. In response to a question, Mrs Knights confirmed that she did write the letter which had been included in the Licensing Manager’s report. The Applicant’s Representative asked if Mrs Knights had corresponded with the Police regarding this application. Mrs Knights replied that she had not.
The Applicant’s Representative asked Mrs Knights if she felt that the closure of the Queens Head had made a difference to the area. Mrs Knights stated that it was a long time ago and felt that it was irrelevant to this application.
The Chairman invited questions from the Sub-Committee. Councillor Hopkins asked if Mrs Knights had reported any incidents of anti-social behaviour to the Police. Mrs Knights stated that she had reported an attempted break-in to the Police, but other issues such as faeces in her garden she just dealt with as she did not feel that the Police would be able to do anything about it.
The Chairman asked Mrs Knights if she had ever reported any incidents to the Environmental Health Section at the Borough Council. Mrs Knights confirmed that she had but felt that it had been a waste of time. She referred to an incident when smoke from the smoker at the Butchers shop had been coming into her window and the Environmental Health Section had asked her to keep a diary for two weeks, which she was unable to do as she was caring for her husband at the time. Mrs Knights commented that she had also had to pay for pest control as she had a rat problem emanating from two nearby eateries. Mrs Knights stated that she had complained several times to the Environmental Health department but they weren’t interested so she had to deal with the problem herself.