Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence and notices of appointment of Substitute Members (if any).

Apologies were received from Cllr D R Coren who was substituted by Cllr K I Busch.

To elect a Chairman for the meeting.

RESOLVED that Cllr Mrs F J Colthorpe be elected Chairman of the Sub Committee for the meeting.

Cllr Mrs Colthorpe then took the Chair.

An application has been received for a new premises licence for Higher Eggbeer Farm, Cheriton Bishop. Relevant representations have been received. Accordingly, Mid Devon District Council as the licensing authority is obliged to hold a hearing to determine the application.

Consideration was given to a report * from the Director of Corporate Affairs and Business Transformation containing relevant information in relation to an application that had been received for a new Premises Licence at Higher Eggbeer Farm, Cheriton Bishop.

The Members and Officers introduced themselves.

Also in attendance, Mr Scott-Lawson, the applicant and Ms L Scarsbrook, objector, introduced themselves.

Members of the Sub Committee declared no interests in respect of the application.

The Sub Committee agreed that the hearing be held in public.

The Licensing Officer outlined the contents of the report highlighting to Members what had been applied for and who had been consulted.  She explained that the property was predominantly used for weddings and live music sessions were also held.  Licensable activities applied for were plays, films, live music, recorded music, the performance of dance, late night refreshment and the supply of alcohol. The application included an application for live music to be played until 2330 and for recorded music to be played until 1.30am. 

The Licensing Officer explained that the applicant had applied for a total of 17 Temporary Event Notices in the last year and that a total of 2 complaints had been received, regarding noise from the premises.  Letters had been sent to the applicant and the complainants had received diary sheets to complete but none had been submitted and no further complaints had been received.

Environmental Health had made a representation on the application on 4 October 2016. The officer recommended that a noise condition be attached to the premises licence and this was attached to the report as Annex 3. The applicant had responded to the Licensing team on 4 October 2016 to agree to the condition being attached to the licence. As a result of this agreement, the Environmental Health Team had no further representation to make.

The Licensing Officer informed the Sub Committee that a number of representations had been received and that details of these were contained within the report.  A number of the representations were in support of the application although in some cases this was due to economic reasons which were not part of the Licensing objective so should not be considered.

There was one representation from Ms L Scarsbrook, which raised concerns regarding public nuisance from guests leaving the premises late at night and from dust created by the number of vehicles using the access road.  Mrs Scarsbrook had provided additional information showing her property in relation to the entrance of Higher Eggbear Farm and the applicant had also provided some further information both of which had been circulated in advance of the meeting.

The Licensing Officer concluded by highlighting the Licensing guidance within the report and the options available to the Sub Committee.

Mr Scott-Lawson gave an overview of how his business had evolved over the previous 4 years.  He explained that he had taken over the farm, which had been within his family for a number of years, following a career as a super yacht  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.