Resolved -

(1)  That Councillor A Hodson be appointed Chair to consider the item regarding Club Zu together with Councillors D McCubbin and S Niblock.

(2)  That Councillor S Niblock be appointed Chair to consider the item regarding Paradise Pizza and Kebab Shop together with Councillors D McCubbin and J Salter.

Members are asked to consider whether they have personal or prejudicial interests in connection with any item(s) on this agenda, and, if so, to declare them and state what they are.

Members were asked to consider whether they had personal or prejudicial interests in connection with the item on the agenda, and, if so, to declare them and state what they were.

No such declarations were made.

The Director of Law, HR and Asset Management reported upon an application that had been received from Merseyside Police for the review of a Premises Licence in respect of Club Zu, 28 Oliver Street East, Birkenhead, under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003.

The premises currently have a Premises Licence which allows the licensable activities as set out in the report.

A copy of the Premises Licence setting out the hours and conditions attached to the licence was available.

The Director advised that the Sub-Committee may, having regard to the application for review and any relevant representations, take such of the following steps as it considered necessary for the promotion of the licensing objectives:

• Modify the Conditions of the Licence.
• Exclude a licensable activity from the scope of the Licence.
• Remove the Designated Premises Supervisor.
• Suspend the Licence for a period not exceeding three months.
• Revoke the Licence.

The Licensing Authority may decide that no action would be necessary if it found that the review did not require it to take any steps necessary to promote the licensing objectives.

The application had been submitted by Merseyside Police and the Licensing Sergeant advised that the grounds for review were in relation to the prevention of crime and disorder and public safety due to the illegal abstracting of electricity at the premises.

Sergeant P Jenkins and Constable R Jones, Merseyside Police, attended the meeting.

Ms N Diable, the Premises Licence Holder was also in attendance.

The Licensing Officer reported that all documentation had been sent and received and that further documentation received from Merseyside Police had been circulated prior to the meeting.

Sergeant Jenkins outlined the application for review.  He reported that a number of breaches of the Premises Licence had been identified subsequent to a visit made to the premises on 31 March 2011.  He reported that due to a clear family connection between this premises and a premises that had previously had its Premises Licence revoked due to having an illegal gas supply, a warrant was obtained.  On a visit made on 5 April 2012 it was discovered that the electricity meter at Club Zu had also been interfered with and that electricity had been abstracted from the premises.  He gave details of an interview that had taken place with Ms Diable when she stated that she had been the Premises Licence Holder of Club Zu since the end of November 2011 and fully accepted that she had illegally abstracted electricity as she had used it and not paid for it.  Sergeant Jenkins advised that there was an ongoing criminal investigation into the matter and that Ms Diable was currently on Bail.  He confirmed that the amount stolen was very substantial.  He reported that a crime had been committed and the licensing objective of crime and disorder had clearly been compromised.  He believed there would be no conditions that could be added to the Premises Licence.  He therefore requested that the Premises Licence be revoked.

Ms N  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The Director of Law, HR and Asset Management reported upon an application that had been received from Ali Yesildag for a Premises Licence in respect of Paradise Pizza and Kebab Shop, 110 Wallasey Road, Wallasey, under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003.

The application was for the grant of a new Premises Licence with the hours outlined within the report.

The applicant was required to submit an operating schedule setting out how they would conduct/manage their business in accordance with the four licensing objectives.  A copy of the full application was available.  Members were advised that the proposals set out in the operating schedule may become conditions of the licence should the licence be granted.

A representation had been received from Central Liscard Area Residents Association.  A petition had also been received signed by 52 local residents.  Two representations had also been received from local residents.  The representations related to anti-social behaviour and noise nuisance caused by customers of the premises.  Copies of the representations and petition were available.

Ward Councillor, Bernadette Mooney had also made a representation which supported the concerns expressed by local residents.

Following consultation with Merseyside Police, the applicant had agreed to conditions being imposed on the Premises Licence should the application be granted.

The applicant, Mr Yesildag, attended the meeting together with Ms Keeley who acted as interpreter.

Ward Councillor, Darren Dodd was in attendance together with Mr D Hale, Chair, and Mr G Sanson, Member, Central Liscard Area Residents Association.

The Licensing Officer confirmed that all documentation had been sent and received and that a written request had been received from Central Liscard Area Residents Association for Councillor Dodd to speak on their behalf.

The applicant explained the reasoning behind his application which was due to the business suffering economically over the past two years.  He advised that customers had previously requested whether alcohol was available at the premises.  He informed Members that he had been at the premises for a number of years and that local residents had no problems with the way the shop was run.

Mr Yesildag responded to questions from Members of the Sub-Committee, Mr Abraham, Legal Advisor to the Sub-Committee, Mr Sanson and Mr Hale.

In response to a question from Mr Hale, Members of the Sub-Committee confirmed that they had read his written submission.

Councillor Dodd reported that a number of residents had raised concerns regarding the increasing number of licensed premises in Liscard and that they were concerned about the increase in the number of people in the area late at night causing noise and anti-social behaviour.  He believed that should the application be granted this would be a magnet for consumers to buy alcohol at a later hour.  He also raised concerns about the sale of alcohol to persons under the age of 18.

Mr Hale referred to his written representations and stated that residents believed that saturation point had been reached in Liscard and that they had concerns regarding the area receiving  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.