Agenda and minutes

Councillor David Munro was elected as Chair for the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence.

Councillor Matthew Dormer declared in relation to agenda item 4 (minute No4) in that he knew the applicant, however, he did not feel that he was prejudiced or predetermined and would continue to sit for the hearing.

The Chair opened the hearing and welcomed everyone to the hearing, Members and Officers presented themselves to all those in attendance.

As the applicant was not represented, the Chair reminded them of their right to be represented. The licence holder indicated that they had decided to represent themselves and were happy to proceed.

The Technical Officer (Licensing), Worcestershire Regulatory Services, presented the report and detailed that, On 8^th August 2024 an application was received for a variation of an existing premises licence in respect of Bank Cafe & Interiors, 2A Lighthouse Works, Queen Street, B96 6BT.

The applicant sought the variation of the existing licence, in that the sale of Alcohol, playing of live music and provision of late-night refreshments would have extended operating times from 23:00 to 00:00 hours on Fri and 23:00 to 01:00 hours on Saturday, all other times remained the same.

Officers detailed that a number of Temporary Event Notices (TENs) had been served in respect of the premises between June 2024 and August 2024. It was confirmed after questions from Members that the applicant had exhausted the number of permitted TENs allowed, which was for 21 days, this was sited as the primary reason for seeking an extension of operating hours.

There had been No comments submitted in response to the application from any responsible authority, this included both West Mercia Police and Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) who were the relevant authorities in terms of public safety and prevention of nuisance (noise) respectively.

Representations were received from four individuals in objection; however, one was subsequently withdrawn. The three remaining objections were detailed on pages 35 to 39 of the Public Reports pack.

The representations raised concerns about the effect of granting the variation application on the promotion of the licensing objective for the prevention of public nuisance.

There were no questions of the Licencing Officer from Members nor any party present.

At the invitation of the Chair, Mr Sean Street, the Licence holder, addressed the Sub-Committee.

Mr Street detailed that, he had owned the building for 6 years which had seen a number of uses which included a café, however, after COVID-19 they applied for a licence for the sale of alcohol to diversify business.

Mr street also stated that they took their duty of care to the community very seriously and kept all sound within the building under 85decibels(dBs) and had taken measures to minimise sound spilling out to neighbouring houses. This included the instillation of acoustic curtains and ensuring all windows are closed with the instillation of air conditioning units to regulate heat. the premises also ran a strict no drugs policy nor served those who were inebriated, additionally under 18^th were not allowed on site after 6pm when the café closed.

Mr Street drew Members attention to pages 31 and 32 of the Public Reports pack, which detailed the layout of the building and informed Members that live music was only played in areas 2 and 3. Speakers were not used  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.