Agenda and draft minutes

The Democratic Services Officer drew attention to the Emergency Evacuation Procedure.

Councillor Ann Morgan had sent her apologies to the Sub-Committee and Councillor George Tomlin was present as her substitute for the duration of the meeting.

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

(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 4.4 Appendix 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 Officer or a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

There were none.

There was none.

The Sub-Committee RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 21^st March 2024.

The Chair referenced the procedure that would be followed during the course of the meeting.

Those that were present confirmed that they had received and understood the licensing procedure.

The Public Protection Officer (Licensing) introduced the report to the Sub-Committee. He explained that the applicant was seeking the following variations to the existing licence:

To extend the sale of alcohol hours (for consumption on and off the premises) on Wednesdays to match the hours on the current Premises Licence hours for Thursdays i.e., 11:00 to 22:00.

He informed the Sub-Committee that no representations had been received from the Responsible Authorities and two objections had been received from members of the public expressing concern that the applicant’s proposals were likely to undermine the Prevention of Public Nuisance, Licensing Objective.

Clive Milner and Libby Baggett addressed the Sub-Committee on behalf of the applicant and said that they were seeking the variation to the licence to have the option to run additional events and did not anticipate that they would use the extra hours every week.

They stated that they are mindful of their neighbours, have signage in place to ask customers to leave quietly and often close before their licensed hours have been reached.

In response to questions from Councillor Toby Simon and one of the objectors, Nigel Gardner, Libby Bagget said that the roller shutter to the premises would be closed during the extra hours and that they did not plan to use the outside area of the premises.

Nigel Gardner addressed the Sub-Committee and explained that the site acts as an echo chamber where noise bounces around and that on some evenings customers can be heard from his home in Osborne Road.

He stated that he was concerned that these additional hours would lead to the premises applying in the future to open in the evenings throughout the rest of the week.

Clive Milner replied to say that there were no plans to open on either Mondays or Tuesdays as it is a large effort for the staff to open the premises as a tap room.

The Chair asked how many houses were situated in Osborne Road.

Nigel Gardner replied that there were 23, including 2 HMOs.

Clive Milner made a summing up statement on behalf of the applicant. He said that they were simply seeking three additional hours on a Wednesday evening for mainly private events and would keep the roller shutters closed during these hours.

Nigel Gardner made a summing up statement. He said that he did not believe that this was the right place to have an entertainment venue, but he welcomed the condition that had been offered by the applicant and acknowledged that it can be difficult to control customers leaving a licensed premises.

Decision & Reasons

Members have determined an application for a variation to the Premises Licence at Electric Bear Brewing Company Ltd, Unit 12, The Maltings, Brassmill Lane, Newbridge, Bath, BA1 3JL. In doing so they have taken into consideration the Licensing Act 2003, Statutory Guidance, the Council’s Policy, Human Rights Act 1998 and case law.

Members are aware that the proper approach under the Licensing Act is to be reluctant to regulate  ...  view the full minutes text for item 109.

This application was withdrawn from the agenda for the Sub-Committee as an agreement had been reached between the applicant and the police. The police representation had therefore been withdrawn.