Following the sad announcement of the death of Her Majesty the Queen, Members stood in silent tribute for 2 minutes.

Resolved – That Councillor Andrew Hodson be appointed Chair for this meeting.

Members of the Licensing Panel are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non pecuniary interests, in connection with any application on the agenda and state the nature of the interest.

Members of the Panel were asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non pecuniary interests in connection with any application on the agenda and state the nature of the interest.

No such declarations were made.

The Director of Law and Governance reported upon an application that had been received from The Craft Union Pub Company Limited to vary a Premises Licence in respect of Perch Rock Hotel, 7 Grosvenor Road, New Brighton.

It was reported that the premises currently have a Premises Licence which permitted the hours outlined within the report.  The hours applied to vary the Premises Licence were set out within the report. 

The applicant had submitted an operating schedule setting out how the business would be conducted/managed 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 application be granted.

In respect of the application a representation had been received from a local resident.  The representation related to public nuisance being caused to residents by customers outside the premises which the resident advised was currently a problem.  The local resident considered that should the application be granted for later hours then public nuisance could be exacerbated.  A copy of the representation was available.

The applicant attended the meeting together with his legal representative.  The local resident who had made a representation was also in attendance. 

The Licensing Manager confirmed that all documentation had been sent and received.

The Licensing Manager outlined the report and in response to the Chair clarified that the hours requested to vary the Premises Licence were for Fridays and Saturdays.

The applicant’s legal representative reported that the company has extensive experience in operating licensed premises.  He advised that these premises were a community pub and he reported that there had been no history of complaints and that strong management was in place.  He advised Members that prior to submitting the application, the premises had contacted Merseyside Police and as a consequence agreed to a number of additional conditions being added to the Premises Licence should the variation be granted.  He referred to the fact that only one representation had been made despite many residents being in close proximity to the premises and that no representations had been made by any of the Responsible Authorities, in particular Merseyside Police or Environmental Health. 

In response to questions, the applicant’s legal representative informed Members that there was no intention to change the demographic of customers attending the premises and that this would be controlled through door supervisors and strong management at the premises.  He submitted that later hours would allow dispersal to take place from the premises over a longer period of time.

The applicant’s representative provided details of the proposed conditions to be added to the Premises Licence which included CCTV, a Challenge 25 Policy, staff training, a refusals register and incident log and door supervisors.

The applicant’s legal representative and the applicant responded to questions from the local resident, the Members of the Licensing Panel and the Legal Advisor to the Panel.

The local resident in attendance raised concerns in respect of customers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.