Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the meeting.

RESOLVED that Cllr R J Chesterton be elected Chairman of the Sub Committee for the meeting.

Cllr Chesterton then took the Chair.

An application has been received from Devon and Cornwall Police to review the premises licence of Tomato Café / Bar, Tiverton. The Council is obliged to hold a hearing to determine such an application.

The Sub Committee had before it a report * of the Head of Human Resources and Development which had been written in response to an application which had been received from Devon and Cornwall Police to review the premises licence of Tomato Café / Bar, Tiverton.

The Members and officers introduced themselves and it was agreed that the hearing be held in public.

The Lead Licensing Officer outlined the contents of the report, confirming the timeline of events and the paperwork which had been circulated to all interested parties. He also confirmed that an agreement had been reached between the Licence Holder and the Police over some of the conditions but they had not reached agreement on two conditions relating to the number of door staff required and the use of polycarbonate glasses in the outside area.

Since the Police had requested the review take place the Chairman invited Police representatives to present their evidence first.

Inspector Jane Alford-Mole, Licensing Officer Lesley Carlo and Counsel Robert Sheridan presented the following salient points as their evidence:

·         Requesting a review had been the last resort, they stated that many attempts had been made to reach an informal agreement with the Licence Holder. Improvements had been seen on many occasions following liaison between the Police and the Licence Holder but there had always been a return to ‘disturbance’ having a significant impact on Police resources.

·         There had not been any reports of incidents since 10 December 2014 when notice had been given of the Police’s intention to request a review of the Licence. However, January was traditionally a quiet time of year in drinking establishments but it would not be unrealistic to expect incidents to occur during the warmer spring and summer months when customers moved outside.

·         The Licence Holder had put several safeguards in place since 10 December such as a rope barrier in the outside area and notices within the licensed premises. It was the Police’s request that such safeguards be formalised within the conditions of the Licence. Furthermore it was their view that the wording of the conditions generally within the Licence needed tightening up.

·         In their view there should be a minimum of 2 door staff from 23:00 hours each evening that the premises was open. This did not accord with the view of the Licence Holder, however, it remained the police’s view that it would be very difficult for the Licence Holder to obtain a second member of door staff at very short notice should customer numbers suddenly increase or incidents of disturbance occur. The Licence Holder had requested only 1 door staff man the entrance during May, June, July, August, September and December. However, it remained the concern of the Police that Easter, Christmas and several Bank Holidays fell within these months and they felt greater cover was required.

·         Inspector Alford-Mole informed the Sub Committee that she had been very reasonable with the Licence Holder, had given him many opportunities and was a strong supporter of local  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.