Agenda and minutes

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

These were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

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

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

Applicant: Jika Jika Ltd, represented by David Holley (Licensing Agent) and Paul King (Manager)

Responsible Authorities: Avon and Somerset Police, represented by Martin Purchase (Police Licensing Officer) and Inspector Steve Mildren; Jeremy Lockley (Environmental Health Officer)

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

The Licensing Officer summarised the application.

Mr Holley stated the case for the applicant. He introduced Paul King, the manager of the premises, who stated that he had been in post for 18 months. Mr Holley said that normally one of the directors of the company would have been present, but they were both engaged on other business. He said that the premises were unique among the licensed premises situated in George Street because of their layout and décor. They had been featured in the national press a couple of times. A lot of thought had been given to the application. The management of Jika Jika wished to address a business problem, which was that the early closure of the premises discouraged potential customers who wished to remain somewhere for the whole evening. There had been negotiations with the owners of the building, who had initially been opposed to longer hours, but had eventually expressed their contentment with the application. There had been discussions with The Abbey Residents Association and the Circus Residents Association, neither of whom had submitted a representation to the application. He said that the additional hours requested would allow the premises to have what would once have been normal licensing hours. He believed that conditions already on the licence would discourage those most likely to be involved in crime and disorder from entering the premises. The management did not wish to employ door staff as a matter of course, and were not enthusiastic about having them dressed in high-visibility jackets, which they felt would project the wrong image of the premises. However, they had offered a condition in the operating schedule that when regulated entertainment takes place on Friday or Saturday evenings a qualified security person may be employed at the entrance between the hours of 2100 till close at the discretion of the management and another condition that where a risk assessment by the DPS and/or at the written request of the Police, SIA door staff shall supervise all patrons queuing to enter the premises and when leaving to seek to ensure that they do so in a quiet and orderly manner and to wear yellow reflective jackets at all times when on duty. There was no opportunity for vertical drinking at the premises, because customers were seated at tables, though they might walk around occasionally. Food was available at all times. He felt it was noteworthy that the residents’ associations had not made representations. He said that the applicant was happy to accept the condition proposed by the Environmental Health Officer that noise should not emanate from the premises so as to be audible or to cause a nuisance at the façade of the nearest  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.