-
Agenda and minutes
Venue: Council Chamber - Muriel Matters House, Breeds Place, Hastings TN34 3UY. View directions
Contact: Emily Horne on 01424 451719 or email ehorne@hastings.gov.uk
Items No. Item Appointment of Chair
Minutes:
In accordance with the terms of reference of the Licensing Committee, the Chief Legal Officer invited nominations for the appointment of Chair for Item 17, Grand Elektra. Councillor Webb proposed that Councillor Street should take the Chair, which was seconded by Councillor Batsford.
RESOLVED (unanimously) that Councillor Street be appointed as Chair for the duration of the meeting.
Minutes of the meeting held on 26 May and 8 June 2015 PDF 82 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 26 May 2015 and the minutes of the meeting held on 8 June 2015 be received and signed by the Chair
Application for a premises licence: Grand Elektra, 53-57 Robertson Street, Hastings PDF 120 KB
Additional documents:
- Appendix A - Application for a Premises Licence - Grand Elektra , item 18. PDF 2 MB
- Appendix B - Map of area, Grand Elektra , item 18. PDF 133 KB
- Appendix C - Police representation & Environmental report - Grand Elektra , item 18. PDF 420 KB
- Appendix D - Letters of support - Grand Elektra , item 18. PDF 411 KB
Minutes:
Councillor Street set out the procedure that the sub-committee would adopt (in accordance with standard practice), all parties confirmed they understood this.
The Assistant Director Environment and Place submitted a report on an application for a premises licence at Grand Elektra, 53-57 Robertson Street, Hastings. An objection had been received from the Police under the licensing objective for the prevention of crime and disorder.
Mr Brown, Licensing Manager, presented the report and gave an overview of the application. On 23 June 2015, the council had received an application for a new premises licence for the ground floor and basement of 53 – 57 Robertson Street, Hastings from Mr Oliver Ibrahim, a Director of Invest Nightlife Ltd. The premises were located on the site of the former West Exit Club and Electric Stag Bar. The Licensing Sub-Committee had previously rejected an application for these premises at their meeting on 8 June 2015.
Some additional supporting information from Invest Nightlife Ltd was circulated to members of the committee prior to the meeting, but did not form part of the formal documentation for the agenda.
Mrs Jean Irving, Head of Licensing and Public Safety for Sussex Police introduced the Police’s representation against the application, on the grounds that the licensing objectives of the prevention of crime and disorder and the prevention of public nuisance would be undermined. She explained that the premises were located within Area 1(town centre) of the Council Special Saturation Policy (Cumulative Impact), and it was therefore only possible to grant permission for a new venue under exceptional circumstances. Mrs Irving stated there was nothing further that the applicants could have added to their operating schedule to improve it further.
Following the Licensing Sub-Committee meeting on 8 June 2015, the Police had attended a site meeting with the applicant and environmental health officers to discuss the potential operational management of the club premises in relation to the four licensing objectives. In his representation, Chief Inspector Phelps, the Hastings Police Commander, acknowledged the efforts of the applicant to address the issues raised by their last application.
Mrs. Irving explained that particular consideration had been given to the security measures in place at the venue. A state of the art CCTV system had been installed at the premises, together with an electronic scanning device to record the identification of patrons. Mrs. Irving commented that such measures had proved effective in other areas in combatting crime. Due to the complex layout of the premises, which had previously been divided into two venues, the ratio of staff to patrons had also been considered and the Police had agreed minimum operating numbers with the applicant.
However, the Police stated that the concentration of late night premises in this part of the town caused problems of crime and disorder, and by its nature a new nightclub would create additional noise and disruption. By extending the opening hours of the premises, other nearby venues may submit similar applications to extend their opening times.
The applicant had ... view the full minutes text for item 18.
The Chair adjourned the meeting at 10.45am, to be re-convened at 2.00pm
Re-Convened Meeting at 2.00pm
Present: Councillors Batsford, Charlesworth, Roberts (Chair) and Sinden
Appointment of Chair
Minutes:
In accordance with the terms of reference of the Licensing Committee, the Chief Legal Officer invited nominations for the appointment of Chair for item 20, application to review premises licence: Moscwichka, 1A Pevensey Road, St Leonards on Sea and item 21 four temporary event notices with Police objection. Funky Buddha. Councillor Charlesworth proposed that Councillor Roberts should take the Chair, which was seconded by Councillor Sinden.
RESOLVED (unanimously) that Councillor Roberts be appointed as Chair for the duration of the meeting.
Application to review a premises licence: Moscwichka, 1A Pevensey Road, St Leonards on Sea
Minutes:
Mr Bob Brown, Licensing Manger, advised the committee that he had received an email from the Ms Jenya Dimitrova, the premise licence holder for Moscwichka, stating that she would not be attending the hearing. In the email, Ms Dimitrova said that she had found a new sub tenant to take over the lease of the shop, and requested that the premises licence remain in place to enable this. A copy of the email was circulated to the committee for them to consider.
The Chief Legal Officer advised that under the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005, the hearing may proceed in the absence of a party, when that party had informed the authority of non-attendance. Councillor Roberts proposed that the hearing proceed in the absence of the premises licence holder, which was seconded by Councillor Charlesworth.
RESOLVED (unanimously) that, in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003, the hearing will proceed in the absence of the premises licence holder.
Mr Brown presented the report of the Assistant Director Environment and Place on an application to review a premises licence for Moscwichka, 1A Pevensey Road, St Leonards-on-Sea. On 23 June 2015, the council had received an application for a review of an existing premises licence for Moscwichka from Mr Graham Wolstenholme, Senior Trading Standards Officer, East Sussex County Council Trading Standards Service. The application was made under Section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003.
Mr Wolstenholme addressed the committee; he explained that the review was in pursuit of the licensing objectives for the prevention of crime and disorder and to ensure public safety. Trading Standards had carried out a visit to the premises on 4 November 2014, during the visit they had found and seized a large quantity of illicit and counterfeit cigarettes. The cigarettes had been hidden behind a false wall on the premises; Trading Standards officers also noted that the counter in the shop had been modified to conceal the products from view. The Premises Licence holder and Designated Premises Supervisor for Moscwichka is Ms Jenya Dimitrova. Ms Dimitrova is also the secretary and a 50% shareholder of H G Foods Limited, which operates shops in St Leonards-on-Sea, Eastbourne and Royal Tunbridge Wells.
Some restricted material from Trading Standards, which was not part of the formal documentation for the agenda, was circulated for the committee to read.
Mr Wolstenholme provided samples of the seized cigarettes for the committee to view. He explained that the cigarettes did not meet the requirements of the Tobacco Products (Manufacture Presentation and Sale) (Safety) (Amendment) Regulations 2007 for the use of colour photographs to depict the consequences of smoking and for the labelling on the packets to be in the official language of the country they would be marketed in. UK duty tax had also not been paid on the cigarettes which indicated that they had been smuggled into the country.
Mr Wolstenholme submitted a transcript of a recorded interview with Ms Dimitrova on 20 November 2014. In the interview, Ms Dimitrova said that she ... view the full minutes text for item 20.
The Chair adjourned the meeting at 3.00pm, to be re-convened at 4.00pm
Re-Convened meeting at 4.00pm
Present: Councillors Batsford, Charlesworth, Roberts (Chair) and Sinden
Four temporary event notices with Police objection. Funky Buddha PDF 111 KB
Additional documents:
- Appendix A - Copies of TENs , item 21. PDF 1 MB
- Appendix B - Map of venue , item 21. PDF 123 KB
- Appendix C - Companies House record , item 21. PDF 47 KB
- Appendix D - Police objection , item 21. PDF 142 KB
Minutes:
Mr Bob Brown, Licensing Manger, advised the committee that the applicant would not be attending the hearing.
The Chief Legal Officer advised that, under the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005, the hearing may proceed in the absence of a party, when that party had informed the authority of non-attendance. Councillor Charlesworth proposed that the hearing proceed in the absence of the applicant, which was seconded by Councillor Sinden.
RESOLVED (unanimously) that, in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003, the hearing will proceed in the absence of the applicant.
Councillor Roberts set out the procedure that the sub-committee would adopt (in accordance with standard practice) all parties confirmed they understood this.
Mr Brown presented the report of the Assistant Director Environment and Place; on 29 July 2015 the council had received notification to hold four temporary events at Funky Buddha Nightclub, 20 Robertson Street from Mrs Louise Jeffery under section 100 of the Licensing Act 2003. An additional application for a late temporary event to take place on 9 August 2015 had also been received. However, as the application was made only 7 working days before the event, and had received a police objection, the notice failed automatically.
Mr Brown advised that the premise does not currently hold a premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003. The previous licence holder, Parkers Brasserie Ltd, had been dissolved on 19 May 2015, and the licence had lapsed on 16 June 2015.
A copy of correspondence from the applicant’s solicitor was circulated to the committee for its consideration. The applicant’s solicitor put forward a series of undertakings which could be applied to the temporary event notice. However, it was considered that as there was no current licence for the premises and the undertakings had not been signed by the applicant, it was unlikely that these could be enforced by the Police or Licensing Authority.
Sergeant Vokins presented an objection on behalf of the Sussex Police. He explained that since the previous premises licence had lapsed, the operators had continued to carry out licensable activity at Funky Buddha. The Police had visited the premises on 22 and 23 July 2015, and confirmed that it was still operating. During their visit on 23 July 2015, the Police had found that the premises CCTV system had not been operational for the past seven days.
Sergeant Vokins supported earlier comments that the undertakings offered by the applicant’s solicitor would not be enforceable. He commented that the premises were located in Hastings town centre, where a Special Saturation Policy (Cumulative Impact) was in force, which demonstrated Police concern at the high density of license premises in this area and the potential impact on crime and disorder. The timing of the events would also coincide with what was already a peak time for anti-social behaviour.
Sergeant Vokins stated that Mrs Jean Irving, the Head of Licensing and Public safety, had been misquoted in an earlier letter from the applicant’s solicitor, where it had been stated that she had discussed ... view the full minutes text for item 21.
-
My council
Contact
Got a question about democratic services?
Content
The content on this page is the responsibility of our Democratic Services team.