Location: Council Chamber, Daneshill House, Danestrete, SG1
Present: H.C.L. Tessier (Chair), T.G.M. Kent, CC, L. Knight, JP, J. Lloyd, CC and M. Notley.
Others: Ray Holmes - Greene King Brewing & Retailing Limited Chris Reed - Admiral Taverns Sgt. Jim Moatt - Herts Constabulary Barbara Miller - Representing the residents of Truro Court Emma Rose - Licensing Officer, SBC Prabhjit Sobti - Principal Solicitor, SBC Jackie Cansick - Clerk, SBC
Duration:
Started at 2.00 p.m.
Ended at 3.20 p.m.
Status: Noted
Business:
Decision: Apologies were submitted on behalf of Councillors C. Latif (Vice-Chair), D.W. Cullen, CC, B. Jackson, P.D.Kissane, M.P. Patston, J.A. Pickersgill, Mrs L.G. Strange and P. Stuart.
There were no declarations of interest.
Status: Noted
Business:
Decision: All parties noted the procedure for the hearing that had been circulated with the agenda papers.
Status: Agreed
Business: The Clerk introduced the representatives of the applicant and the objectors present at the hearing.
The Chair welcomed all parties to the hearing and introduced the Members of the Committee and the officers in attendance.
The Licensing Officer outlined her report. She informed the hearing that since Greene King had submitted the application the pub had changed hands and Admiral Taverns were now the landlord, however, this did not affect the application submitted by Greene King. She added that confirmation was still awaited from the applicant regarding details of delivery schedules.
Members of the Committee, the Applicant, the objector's representative nor the Police asked any questions of the Licensing Officer.
The Chair called upon Sgt. Moatt to address the Committee. Sgt. Moatt explained that the Police had objected to this application on the grounds of crime and disorder and public nuisance. He referred to the number of incidents requiring police attention at the premises in 2004 and so far this year. The view was held that extending the licensing hours of the St. Nicholas would exacerbate the issue and require further police resources.
In response to a question from Chris Reed from Admiral Taverns Sgt. Moatt detailed over 25 entries from the Police log concerning the St. Nicholas this year. These logs included incidents of GBH, theft, fighting, offensive weapons and vandalism. The Police were of the view that the pub had no control over its patrons and Sgt. Moatt reiterated that if the licensing hours were extended these occurrences would increase.
In response the representative of Admiral Taverns considered that not all the incidents were connected with the Pub but accepted that the St. Nicholas needed better management and that was what the new owners would bring. He added that the new Manager was going to be meet with the Police in the next week.
There were no questions of the Police from Members of the Committee or the objectors' representative.
The Chair then called upon the Objectors' representative to address the hearing. Barbara Miller explained that she was representing the residents of Truro Court. Truro Court was a sheltered scheme located very near the St. Nicholas. The elderly residents were unable to attend the hearing and additionally they had been fearful of possible recriminations from the pub.
The representative from Admiral Taverns assured the hearing that there would be no recriminations and added that even a suggestion of this would not impress the new landlords.
There were no questions of the objectors' representative.
Ray Holmes of Green King, the applicant, then addressed the Committee. He expressed the view that the application was quite conservative as it was only asking for an extra 3.5 hours per week. He stated that whilst on paper it might appear that there was to be live entertainment 7 nights a week this would not be the case in practice but making the application in this way allowed for flexibility. He was of the view that the pub unfairly took the brunt of the blame for disorder in the area, however it was located by a parade of shops where often a number of young people hung around. With reference to the log report detailed by the Police, Ray Holmes stated that a number of these incidents had occurred when the manager had been on holiday. Also the timings of these incidents were often early/middle evening, not at closing times.
The Licensing Officer requested the applicant to clarify delivery schedule times. The applicant responded that there was no early dray, and therefore the delivery schedule would be between 8.00 a.m. and 11.00 p.m. twice a week.
There were no questions of the applicant from either Members of the Committee, the Police or the objectors' representative.
The Police, the objectors' representative and the applicant and the representative of Admiral Taverns all then made closing statements.
The Chair then requested all parties, other than the SBC Legal Officer and Clerk, to leave the meeting whilst the Committee considered the evidence presented.
Following due consideration all parties were invited back into the meeting.
The Chair announce the decision as follows -
Decision: 'After taking into consideration all the evidence presented from the applicant, the Police and other objectors in the light of the four licensing objectives set out in the Licensing Act 2003, the Human Rights Act 1988, and the Council's Local Licensing Policy, it was RESOLVED :-
"That the application made by Green King Brewing and Retailing Limited under Section 34 of the Licensing Act 2003 to vary the premises licence for the St. Nicholas Public House, Canterbury Way, Stevenage be approved, as per the conditions stated in the applicant's operating schedule, with the following additions/variations:-
1)That the sale of alcohol hours remain as per the current licence.
2)That Live Music and Recorded Music end at 22.30 on Sundays.
3)That the Public House will close at 23.30 between Mondays and Saturdays and 23.00 on Sundays.
4)That the applicant shall notify the schedule of deliveries, in writing, to the licensing officer, to be included in the licence.
5)That the application for an extra hour for all activities on non-standard days be refused.
Reason for Decision: In pursuance of the licensing objectives of the prevention of crime and disorder and the prevention of public nuisance in that the Committee believes that the applicant has not demonstrated that he can prevent the crime and disorder or public nuisance associated with this public house.'