Agenda and minutes

Venue: Kaposvar Room - Guildhall, Bath. View directions

Contact: Enfys Hughes, Sean O'Neill  Email: democratic_services@bathnes.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

101.

EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROCEDURE

The Chair will draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out under Note 5 on the previous page.

Minutes:

The Democratic Services Officer read out the procedure.

102.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS

Minutes:

There were none.

103.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

Minutes:

Councillor Manda Rigby declared an interest in that she had spoken to the person making representations on the Nest (item 12 on the agenda) in regard to a planning matter.  She remained in the meeting as this did not prejudice her view in any way.

104.

TO ANNOUNCE ANY URGENT BUSINESS AGREED BY THE CHAIR

Minutes:

There was none.

105.

MINUTES: 18 NOVEMBER 2014 pdf icon PDF 59 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting on 18th November 2014 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

106.

TAXI DRIVER'S LICENCE PROCEDURE pdf icon PDF 32 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair explained the procedure to be followed for that part of the meeting.

107.

Exclusion of the public

The Committee is asked to consider passing the following resolution:

 

“that having been satisfied that the public interest would be better served by not disclosing relevant information, in accordance with the provisions of Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business and the reporting of the meeting be prevented under Section 100A(5A) because of the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended.   

Minutes:

RESOLVED that, having been satisfied that the public interest would be better served by not disclosing relevant information, in accordance with the provisions of Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business because of the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended.

108.

CONSIDERATION OF MEDICAL CONDITION - MR MM pdf icon PDF 29 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee considered the report which sought determination of Mr MM’s suitability to continue to hold a combined Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Driver’s licence.

 

The Licensee had phoned the office stating he was unable to attend due to illness.

 

The Sub-Committee adjourned to consider their decision.

 

Following an adjournment it was

 

RESOLVED that consideration of Mr MM be deferred until the next meeting on 6th January 2015.

 

Reasons for decision

Members heard that the licensee was ill and would not attend the meeting. Members resolved to defer the matter until the next meeting putting the licensee on notice that should he fail to attend the matter may be determined in his absence.

109.

Application For Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Driver's Licence:- Mr G J L pdf icon PDF 29 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee considered the report which sought determination of an application by Mr GJL for the grant of a combined Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Driver’s Licence.

 

Mr GJL was present and confirmed he had read the procedure for the meeting.

 

The Public Protection Officer presented the report and stated that as part of the application process a Disclosure and Barring Service check was undertaken, which had revealed a previous caution. He circulated the Disclosure and Barring Service check, personal statement and reference for Mr GJL. The applicant and Public Protection Officer withdrew from the meeting while Members took some time to consider these documents.

 

Mr GJL put his case, explained the circumstances of the caution and reasons he wanted the licence.  Then he was questioned and then made a closing statement. 

 

Following an adjournment it was

 

RESOLVED that Mr GJL be granted a combined Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Driver’s licence subject to the standard terms and conditions.

 

Reasons for decision

 

Members have had to determine an application for a Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Drivers’ Licence.  In doing so they have taken account of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, Human Rights Act 1998, Council’s Policy, case law and the DVLA current medical guidelines for professional drivers.

 

Members heard that Mr GJL had received a formal police caution in 2009 for an offence of common assault.  This caution falls outside the policy.  The applicant said he had never been in trouble with the police before and this was an out of character one off incident.  Members found the applicant to be a fit and proper person having considered the matter was unlikely to occur in the future.

110.

RETURN TO OPEN SESSION

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the meeting return to open session.

111.

LICENSING ACT 2003 PROCEDURE FOR HEARING AN APPLICATION FOR A NEW PREMISES LICENCE OR FOR A VARIATION OF A PREMISES LICENCE

The Chair will, if required, explain the licensing procedure.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair explained the procedure to be followed for that part of the meeting.

112.

APPLICATION TO VARY A PREMISES LICENCE FOR THE NEST, 7 BLADUD BUILDINGS, BATH BA1 5LS pdf icon PDF 5 MB

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee considered the report which sought determination of an application for the variation of an existing Premises Licence under Section 34 of the Licensing Act 2003 in respect of The Nest, 7 Bladud Buildings, Bath.

 

Rod Johnson (Licensee and Designated Premises Superviser) was present and Amanda Habisrittinger (representation) was present.

 

The Public Protection Officer presented that report and stated that the variation sought to extend the opening hours, extend the sale of alcohol timings and extend the provision of recorded music, by one hour.  She stated that one representation had been received from a neighbour.

 

The Licensee put his case for the variation.  He stated that they had applied for a variation before and it had been refused.  Since that time they had made improvements and had spoken with the police – for example in respect of drugs they now did toilet checks and had CCTV.  They had also had discussions with Nigel Shire (Environmental Health) about some improvements:- all recorded music through a noise limiter; live bands to finish at 23:00 hours; no entry to the club or re-entry after 2am; smoking area to be closed at 2pm.  There was also a dispersal policy which had resulted in a more gradual flow of people leaving the club instead of a mass exit. 

 

The Licensee had met with Ian Perkins (Circus Residents Association) and he had visited the club.  They had agreed to have quarterly meeting to discuss issues and he had provided him with his email and telephone number.  He was happy with the dispersal policy and closing the smoking area earlier.  The Licensee said that they swept the area at the end of the day to clear up litter.

 

The Licensee explained that currently they had a minimum of two doorstaff on Monday to Thursday and Friday and Saturday this could go up to four or five depending how busy it was.  It was their job to ensure glasses were not taken outside and customers kept quieter to respect the neighbours.

 

During questions the following points were made:-

 

·  The only evidence of the improvements made was the lack of representations;

·  The police had visited the club to see the improvements;

·  There had been 11 Temporary Event Notices during the year and the Licensee stated there had not been any complaints;

·  The Licensee tried to be proactive in light of previous issues at the club and did the following things;

o  provided sand buckets for the cigarette butts;

o  had a system of sweeping up outside the club at the end of the night;

o  the doorstaff reminded customers to respect the neighbours and keep the noise down;

·  There was a charge to enter the club after 11pm and no re-entry after 2pm;

·  The Licensee confirmed there were a minimum of 2 doorstaff Monday to Wednesday, 3 on Thursday with more, possibly 4 or 5 on Friday and Saturday when it was really busy.

 

Amanda Habisrittinger who had made representations put her case as follows.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 112.