Agenda and minutes

The Chair will draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out under Note 6 on the previous page.

The Democratic Services Officer read out the procedure.

RESOLVED that a Vice-Chair was not required on this occasion.

There were none.

To receive any declarations from Members/Officers of personal/prejudicial interests in respect of matters for consideration at this meeting, together with their statements on the nature of any such interests declared.

There were none.

There was none.

As no member was present who had been present at the meeting of 16^th September 2010, the approval of the minutes was deferred until the next meeting.

The Chair will, if required, explain the procedure.

The Chair drew attention to the licensing procedure, copies of which had been made available to members of the public attending the meeting.

Applicant: Amar Sharfadeen

Interested Parties were present, but they had requested anonymity and did not add to their written representations.

The Licensing Officer summarised the application. The applicant was seeking to provide late-night refreshment between 23.00 and 01.00 on Mondays to Thursdays, between 23.00 and 03.00 on Fridays and Saturdays and between 23.00 and 00.00 on Sundays. Representations had been received from local residents and from the Ward Councillor (Cllr Will Sandry) in respect of the licensing objectives of the prevention of crime and disorder and the prevention of public nuisance.

The applicant was not present and was not represented. Cllr Will Sandry was unable to attend the meeting. Other Interested Parties were present, but did not wish to add to their representations.

Following an adjournment it was RESOLVED to grant a licence allowing the provision of late-night refreshment between 23.00 and 00.00 on Fridays and Saturdays only. Authorisation was delegated to the Licensing Officer accordingly.

REASONS

Members determined an application for a premises licence at Adel’s Takeaway and Café. In so doing Members had regard to the Licensing Act, the Hearings Regulations and Human Rights Act. In determining the application Members balanced the competing interests and granted the licence limited to Friday and Saturday 23.00 – 00.00 hours believing to grant a licence for any extended period would give rise to public nuisance in the form of noise in what is a premise on the edge of a residential area.

The Chair will, if required, explain the procedure.

The Chair drew attention to the review procedure, copies of which had been made available to members of the public attending the meeting.

Applicant for Review: Georgian House (Bath) Management Company, represented by Toby Brett

Witness for the Applicant for Review: Richard Collins (tenant of Georgian House), Dr Barbara White (Advanced Studies in England)

Licence Holder: Opa Bath Ltd, represented by Mark Hoare (Solicitor) and Mike Miaris

Interested Parties: The Abbey Residents Association, represented by Ian Perkins, Louise Henderson and Jenny Collins (local residents) and Graham Webb, attending on behalf of St. John’s Hospital.

Responsible Authority: Environmental Protection, represented by Diarmid Henry (Environmental Health Officer)

The parties confirmed that they had received and understood the review procedure.

The Licensing Officer summarised the application, which was based on the licensing objective of the prevention of public nuisance. Relevant representations had been received from persons living and carrying on a business in the vicinity of the premises and from Environmental Protection.

Additional information had been circulated to Members and the parties before the hearing, including CCTV recordings of the street outside the premises and a letter from the occupier of a flat let by Advanced Studies in England.

Mr Brett introduced himself as Director of the Georgian House (Bath) Management Company and gave a PowerPoint presentation setting out the case for the Applicant for Review. He began by summarising the history of the premises licence. He also referred to planning applications made by the premises, including an application for change of use to a nightclub, which was refused in June 2010, and of interventions by enforcement agencies in relation to the premises, including a noise abatement notice made in October 2008. He said public nuisance was regularly caused by people queuing in the street while awaiting admission to Opa and by customers of Opa smoking in the street and when leaving the premises. Customers who had left Opa sometimes vomited and urinated in the street and in doorways. He showed CCTV footage of people congregating and moving around in the street near the premises, of a fight, which allegedly involved customers of Opa, and of a man, allegedly a customer of Opa, urinating in the street. Customers of Opa who came out to smoke huddled in the doorways of residential premises when it rained. All this activity took place not far from ground floor bedrooms and basement flats and caused nuisance and sleep disturbance to residents of Georgian House and neighbouring residential premises. He called Richard Collins as a witness.

Richard Collins stated that he occupied Flat 5 of Georgian House, which was on the first floor. He said that the noise from customers queuing to enter Opa prevented him from getting to sleep until 3.00am several nights a week. The people queuing were loud and excited because they had been drinking before they arrived. He felt that Opa was being operated as a nightclub in an area that was entirely unsuitable for such an establishment. He now felt that he was unable to allow his granddaughter to visit his flat because of the unpleasant atmosphere.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.