Minutes - 1 November 2010

BABERGH DISTRICT COUNCIL                                     LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE

MINUTES OF AN ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, COUNCIL OFFICES, CORKS LANE, HADLEIGH ON FRIDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 2010

            PRESENT:                            Mr B L Lazenby – Chairman

Also in attendance at the meeting to make representations were:- 

 Quick Links

1    Declaration of Interests
2    Licensing Act 2003 - Hearing Report - Melford Hall, Long Melford

1.         DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

None declared.

• Top of page

2.         LICENSING ACT 2003 – HEARING REPORT – MELFORD HALL, LONG MELFORD

The Chairman of the Sub-Committee referred to the meeting held on 1 October 2010 which had been adjourned to allow interested parties and the applicant time to meet to determine whether any consensus view/common agreement on licensing permissions may be reached.  He referred to the procedure to be followed at the hearing, a copy of which had been circulated and Paper K104 requesting the Sub-Committee to determine an Application under the 2003 Licensing Act in respect of Melford Hall (park and outdoor areas only), Long Melford.

The Chairman also referred to additional papers received, clarified that all parties consented that these papers could be submitted as part of the hearing and then adjourned the hearing to provide Members and all parties with sufficient time to read the additional papers.  The additional papers are referred to as Paper K133 and are as follows:-

Appendix A – Licensing Officer Update Summary
Appendix B – Plan showing revised proposals
Appendix C – Revised event breakdown
Appendix D – Proposed conditions agreed with Babergh Environmental Health
Appendix E – Minutes of meeting between objectors and applicant
Appendix F – Letter dated 31 October from Long Melford Residents Group
Appendix G - Collection of emails from residents of Long Melford
Appendix H – Letter dated 10 October from the National Trust

The Head of Natural and Built Environment presented his report, contained in Appendix 2 of Paper K104 and also Appendix A to Paper K133.

The applicant made an opening address to the meeting in support of the application and outlined changes he had made to his application following discussions he had had with the objectors and interested parties.

The applicant was then questioned by Members and the objectors.

Mr J Buckingham (Environmental Health) presented his report, contained in Appendix 2 to Paper K104 and also Appendix D to Paper K133.

Mr Allen was then questioned by Members.

Mr R Roper (Objector) presented his report to the meeting which supported his letter of objection contained in Appendix 2 to Paper K104 and Appendix F and G to Paper K133.

Mrs L Bixley (Objector) presented her report to the meeting which supported her letter of objection contained in Appendix 2 to Paper K104 and Appendix Fand G to Paper K133.

Mr R Hughes (Objector) presented his report to the meeting which supported his letter of objection contained in Appendix 2 to Paper K104 and Appendix F and G to Paper K133.

Mr R Taylor (Objector) presented his report to the meeting which supported his letter of objection contained in Appendix 2 to Paper K104 and Appendix F and G to Paper K133.

The objectors were questioned by Inspector Crick and the Members.

All parties were then requested to provide closing comments to the meeting.  Following this all parties withdrew to enable the Sub-Committee to deliberate the application. 

The relevant parties were then invited back into the meeting and the Councils decision notified.

RESOLVED

That the application for a new Premises Licence is granted, subject to mandatory conditions and terms and conditions that are consistent with the operating schedule submitted and as voluntarily amended by the applicant during the application and hearing process.  In addition, a further reduction in the frequency of licensable events is imposed plus additional controls and conditions are also imposed in respect of the licensed activities authorised by the new premises licence.  This is considered reasonably necessary and proportionate in this instance, in view of the representations and submissions made at the hearing, to further promote the licensing objectives and specifically the prevention of public nuisance objective.  The conditions attached in respect of the premises licence issued under section 17 of the Licensing Act 2003 in respect of Melford Hall (park and outdoor areas only), Long Melford are:

1.         The supply of alcohol under the authority of premises licence BPL0379 shall cease 30 minutes prior to the end of a licensable event on all occasions, to facilitate a period of drinking-up, wind down and dispersal of patrons from the licensed premises.

2.         There shall be no consumption of alcohol permitted beyond the boundary of the licensed premises, as delineated on the plan referred to as Annex 4 on the premises licence BPL0379, on any occasion. For the avoidance of doubt this condition removes any ‘off’ sales activity under the authority of premises licence BPL0379.

3.         There shall be no public camping permitted on the licensed premises for any event involving licensable activities, with the exception of the ‘Old Time Rally’ event where camping shall be limited to persons as authorised by the premises licence holder.

4.         The frequency and nature/type of licensable activities/events under the authority of premises licence BPL0379 shall be reduced from that originally proposed in premises licence application 005729 to that as now shown on the premises licence, summary of it and as referenced in conditions attached to premises licence BPL0379.

5.                  (i)    The licence holder shall provide the Licensing Authority, and other relevant authorities, with a suitable and sufficient Event Management Plan (EMP) for each and every licensable event with an anticipated attendance of 500 or more persons on the licensed premises at any one time. The licence holder shall endeavour to provide a draft of the EMP to the Licensing Authority a minimum of 56 days in advance of the event (i.e. it is to be provided at the time of the notification of the event, as far as possible) with any revisions or modifications to the EMP to be provided to the Licensing Authority as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any case within 5 working days of any such revision or modification being made.

(ii)   The EMP shall take into account factors relevant to the promotion of the licensing objectives and be commensurate with the specific nature and scale of the event - to include noise control and public nuisance mitigation, traffic management/access routes, security/stewarding levels, capacity monitoring and control, first aid provision, fire and health and safety risk assessments etc.

(iii)  Where the Licensing Authority or relevant authority is minded to make recommendations concerning the content of the EMP, in relation to promotion of the licensing objectives, then the licence holder and event organiser shall duly incorporate all reasonable revision requests into the document.

6.         In addition to the noise control measures specified in Annex 2 conditions 11 to 13 on the premises licence BPL0379, for events involving licensable activities that are neither wedding related or the ‘Big Night Out’ event the licence holder shall comply with any reasonable recommendations made by the Environmental Health representative in relation to the setting of noise limits/controls for licensable events, whether by installing and operating of a noise limiter, or by other means to be agreed in advance. Such matters may be agreed on the basis of individual events or by type of event, at the discretion of the Environmental Health representative.

The business of the meeting was concluded at 11.55 a.m.

                                                                                                                        Chairman

• Top of page