Resolved -

(1) That Councillor H Smith be appointed Chair for the morning session to consider the application in respect of Best One Express.

(2) That Councillor C Teggin be appointed Chair for the afternoon session to consider the application in respect of the ESWA Club.

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 requested to consider whether they had any personal or prejudicial interests in connection with any items on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state what they were.

No such declarations were made.

The Director of Regeneration reported upon an application received from Perinparajah Amalraj to grant a Premises Licence in respect of premises known as Best One, Fleetcroft Road, Woodchurch, under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003.

The application for the grant of the Premises Licence was as follows:-

Supply of Alcohol

Sunday to Saturday 06:00 to 23:00

Hours Open to the Public

Sunday to Saturday 06:00 to 23:00

The applicant attended the meeting together with Kuperan Murunesa and their representative Mr M Stafford.

In respect of this application fifty two representations had been received from local residents. The representations related to anti-social behaviour and public nuisance caused by youths congregating within the vicinity of the premises. A petition containing 598 signatures had also been received. Copies of the representations and the petition were available.

Merseyside Police had made a representation in respect of this application concerning the prevention of crime and disorder. A copy of the representation and police logs were available. Sergeant D Peers, Inspector B Griffiths and Constable C Cottrell attended the meeting.

Many local residents attended the meeting in support of their objections to the application.  Councillor P A Smith and Mr P Shanks (Chairman & Director, Childwall Green Residents (RTM Company) Ltd) attended the meeting to make representations on behalf of local residents.

No representations had been received from any of the other Responsible Authorities.

The Licensing Officer confirmed that all relevant notices had been sent out in respect of this application and that additional evidence had been supplied by the applicant in the form of a DVD.  The Licensing Officer had also received a late representation to which the applicant objected and this was therefore not taken into consideration.

The Licensing Officer informed Members that the applicant wished to amend the application as follows:-

Supply of Alcohol

Sunday to Saturday 06:00 to 22:00

Hours Open to the Public

Sunday to Saturday 06:00 to 22:00

Mr Stafford addressed the Sub-Committee and explained that although the applicant had realised that the application was controversial and that the previous application which had been made in February 2008 had been unsuccessful, he reported that since the premises had been trading for a year without the sale of alcohol, a high level of request had been made for the premises to be able to sell alcohol.

Mr Stafford outlined the various procedures that the applicant was willing to put into place in order to prevent the sale of alcohol to persons under the age of 18 years and concerns regarding public nuisance which included the installation of an OKID machine which he felt would assist when dealing with the problem of proxy sales and a CCTV system which would consist of 5 external and 11 internal cameras.  He stated that the applicant would be willing for the installation of these to be made a condition to be attached to the Premises Licence.  Mr Stafford outlined other measures the applicant would be willing to make such as voluntarily agreeing to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 99.

The Director of Regeneration reported upon an application that had been received from Merseyside Police for the review of a Club Premises Certificate for the ESWA Club, 54-56 Park Road South, Birkenhead.

These premises currently have a Club Premises Certificate for the following licensable activities:

Supply of Alcohol

Sunday to Saturday 11.00 to 23.30

Hours Open to Members and Guests

Sunday to Saturday 11.00am to 00.00

Regulated Entertainment (Indoor Sporting Events)

Sunday to Saturday 11:00 to 23:30

Regulated Entertainment (Live Music and Recorded Music)

Sunday to Saturday 11:00 to 23:30

Entertainment Facilities (Facilities for Making Music, Dancing and Anything of a Similar Description)

Sunday to Saturday 11:00 to 23:30

A copy of the Club Premises Certificate setting out the above hours and conditions attached to the Certificate 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 Certificate conditions (permanently or for a temporary period of up to 3 months).

• Exclude a qualifying club activity from the scope of the Certificate (permanently or for a temporary period of up to 3 months).

• Suspend the Certificate for a period not more than 3 months.

• Revoke the Certificate.

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.

Sergeant D Peers, Police Licensing, and Constable Carl Cottrell attended the meeting and advised that the grounds for review were in relation to the management of the Club that had been undermining the Licensing Objectives of the Licensing Act 2003.

Mr T Nelson attended the meeting to represent members of the committee of the ESWA Club who were also in attendance.

The Licensing Officer confirmed that all relevant documentation had been sent and received.  A late representation had been received from Park High School to which Merseyside Police raised no objection and this was therefore taken into consideration.  Two further late representations had been received which were not accepted by Merseyside Police and therefore not considered.

Mr Nelson reported that discussions had taken place between himself and Merseyside Police and that there was no issue regarding the facts of the case.  The concern of Merseyside Police was that bookings had been accepted that did not comply with the club rules as functions must be booked by members, however, it was found that the ESWA club had committed breaches of their Club Premises Certificate and their own club rules.  Mr Nelson reported that the committee of the ESWA club were now aware of the problems and would ensure they did not re-occur.

Sergeant Peers reported that the ESWA Club held a Club Premises Certificate and as such must comply with the conditions of this and their own club rules.  There had been a number of complaints to Merseyside  ...  view the full minutes text for item 100.