THE DECISION:

That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public were excluded for the period of the meeting during which CCTV footage was shown as part of the Panel’s consideration of the item of business at minute no LAHP.13 on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act as the Panel was satisfied that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

Report of the Director of Law and Governance (Monitoring Officer)

The Director of Law and Governance submitted a report seeking consideration of an application to vary a Premises Licence in respect of the Rose and Crown, Main Street, Sutton on the Forest (“the premises”).

The application sought to authorise:

(a)     the performance of plays between the hours of 11am and midnight every day;

(b)     the performance of live music between the hours of 11am and midnight every day;

(c)     the playing of recorded music between the hours of 11am and midnight every day;

(d)     the performance of dance between the hours of 11am and midnight every day;

(e)     entertainment of a similar description between the hours of 11am and midnight every day;

(f)      the provision of late night refreshment between the hours of 11pm and midnight every day;

(g)     the sale of alcohol between the hours of 11am and 1am every day; and

(h)     the new premises plans which includes the use of external areas for licensable activities and the use of a servery hatch at the rear of the building for the sale of alcohol.

All parts of the application were for the Panel to determine.

Alternative options considered:

The Panel considered the options outlined in paragraph 7.2 of the officer’s report and concluded that it would not be appropriate to reject the application or to grant the application as applied for.  The Panel was satisfied that granting the licence subject to modifications would address the concerns raised and adequately promote the licensing objectives.

The reason for the decision:

The Panel considered the relevant representations of the parties both written and oral, the Licensing Act 2003 as amended, the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy and the guidance issued under Section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003.

The applicant’s representative (Mr Willetts) indicated that in order to alleviate the concerns of residents he would welcome a decision from the Panel to grant the licence at reduced hours as follows:

Sale of alcohol

Sunday to Wednesday 11am to 11pm;

Thursday 11am to 11.30pm;

Friday and Saturday 11am to 1am.

Regulated Entertainment

Sunday to Thursday 11am to 11pm;

Friday and Saturday 11am to midnight.

Late Night Refreshment

Thursday 11pm to 11.30pm;

Friday and Saturday 11pm to midnight.

Opening hours

Sunday to Wednesday 11am to 11.30pm;

Thursday 11am to midnight;

Friday and Saturday 11am to 1.30am

Mr Willetts also proposed a restriction on the use of the external areas of the premises for the purposes of live music performances to a maximum of two occasions a year occurring only between 1^st May and 1^st September between the hours of 11am and 8pm.  In addition, the Mr Willetts proposed that the use of the service hatch to the rear of the building would be limited to between the hours of 11am and 9pm.   The Panel considered Mr Willetts’ proposals and acknowledged the attempt to minimise the potential adverse effects on the licensing objectives.  The Panel noted that live music between the hours of 8am and 11pm was exempt from licensing requirements  ...  view the full minutes text for item LAHP.14