Resolved – That Councillor A 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 Modi Stores Limited for a Premises Licence in respect of 2 Princes Pavement, Birkenhead, CH41 2XY.

It was reported that the premises is situated within a Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) area in Birkenhead with the hours applied for set out within the report.  The Licensing Panel were advised that due to the proposed location of the premises being within the CIA area, the following matters must be taken into account in consideration of the application:

·  whether the applicant has demonstrated in their operating schedule that they will not be adding to the cumulative impact of licensed premises selling alcohol for consumption off the premises only within the CIA area

·  whether the Licensing Authority would be justified in departing from its’ CIA in light of the individual circumstances of the case

·  whether the granting of the application would undermine the licensing objectives and that conditions would be ineffective in preventing the problems identified within the CIA

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 Merseyside Police who believed that the granting of the application would undermine the prevention of crime and disorder licensing objective due to ongoing issues with street drinking and alcohol related crime within the area.  A copy of the representation was available.

The applicant attended the meeting together with the Business Development Manager of Go Local, a representative from the Post Office, a Licensing Agent and their legal representative.  Two Constables from Merseyside Police were also in attendance.

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

The Licensing Manager outlined the report. 

The legal representative for the applicant informed Members of the Panel that the applicant was aware that the premises is situated within the Cumulative Impact Assessment area for Birkenhead and had therefore taken this into account in preparing their operating schedule.  It was therefore acknowledged that the applicant must demonstrate that this was an exceptional application and that they would not be adding to the cumulative impact of premises selling alcohol for consumption off the premises only, in this area, should the application be granted.

The Members of the Licensing Panel were informed that the application had been made to operate the premises as a Post Office and convenience store and that the applicant had been approached by the Post Office to operate the services of a Post Office at this location due to the fact that such services were no longer offered within this area of Birkenhead.  It was reported that the applicant was currently operating a Post Office on another site in Wirral.  Members were advised that due to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.