Agenda and minutes

(Director of Governance) To declare interests in any item on this agenda.

(Director of Governance) As per the attached extract from the Council’s Constitution.

The Sub-Committee noted the agreed procedure for the conduct of business.

Exclusion:

To consider whether, under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press should be excluded from the meeting for the items of business set out below on grounds that they will involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the following paragraph(s) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act (as amended) or are confidential under Section 100(A)(2):

The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006, which came into effect on 1 March 2006, requires the Council to consider whether maintaining the exemption listed above outweighs the potential public interest in disclosing the information. Any member who considers that this test should be applied to any currently exempted matter on this agenda should contact the proper officer at least 24 hours prior to the meeting.

Confidential Items Commencement:

Paragraph 9 of the Council Procedure Rules contained in the Constitution require:

(1)        All business of the Council requiring to be transacted in the presence of the press and public to be completed by 10.00 p.m. at the latest.

(2)        At the time appointed under (1) above, the Chairman shall permit the completion of debate on any item still under consideration, and at his or her discretion, any other remaining business whereupon the Council shall proceed to exclude the public and press.

(3)        Any public business remaining to be dealt with shall be deferred until after the completion of the private part of the meeting, including items submitted for report rather than decision.

Background Papers:

Paragraph 8 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules of the Constitution define background papers as being documents relating to the subject matter of the report which in the Proper Officer's opinion:

(a)        disclose any facts or matters on which the report or an important part of the report is based;  and

(b)        have been relied on to a material extent in preparing the report and does not include published works or those which disclose exempt or confidential information (as defined in Rule 10) and in respect of executive reports, the advice of any political advisor.

Inspection of background papers may be arranged by contacting the officer responsible for the item.

Resolved:

(1)        That, in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the item of business set out below as it would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12(A) of the Act indicated and the exemption was considered to outweigh the potential public interest in disclosing the information:

Agenda                                                                                   Exempt Information

Item No           Subject                                                           Paragraph Number

     7                 Application for a Hackney Carriage Driver’s              1

                        Licence – Mr R Wilkinson

(Director of Neighbourhoods) To consider the attached report and documents.

The Sub-Committee considered an application by Mr R Wilkinson for a Hackney Carriage Driver’s Licence. The three Councillors that presided over this item were Councillors K Angold-Stephens, G Shiell and B Surtees. Members noted that Officers did not have delegated powers to grant this application and, as a result, the application had to be considered by the Sub-Committee.

The Chairman welcomed the Applicant and introduced the Members and Officers present. Ms N Glasscock was also in attendance on behalf of the Environment & Neighbourhoods team. The Senior Licensing Officer informed the Sub-Committee of the circumstances by which the licence could not be issued under delegated authority.

The Applicant made a short statement in support of this application, and produced two character references for the Sub-Committee to consider, before answering a number of questions from Members of the Sub-Committee. The Applicant then made a short closing statement to the Sub-Committee before the Chairman requested that the Applicant leave the Chamber whilst the Sub-Committee debated the application in private.

The Chairman invited the Applicant back into the Chamber and informed him of the decision of the Sub-Committee.

Resolved:

(1)        That the application for a Hackney Carriage Driver’s Licence for Mr R Wilkinson be granted; and

(2)        That the Applicant be given a stern warning over any future transgressions of his Licensing conditions.

Resolved:

(1)        That the public and press be invited back into the meeting for the remaining items of business.

(Director of Neighbourhoods) To consider the attached report.

The three Councillors that presided over this item were Councillors K Angold-Stephens as Chairman, G Shiell and B Surtees. The Chairman welcomed the participants and requested that they introduce themselves. In attendance on behalf of the application were: Mr J Alonso, Operations Manager for the Il Bacio restaurants; and Mr L Funedda, the owner of the Il Bacio restaurants. There were five Objectors in attendance: Mrs F Conway; Mr S Conway; Mr K Lucas; Mrs Y Wilson; and Mr D Wilson. Also in attendance were: Mrs J Owen, Licensing Officer; Mr P Jones, Essex Police; and Mr M Richardson, Environment & Neighbourhood Officer. The Chairman then introduced the Members and Officers present, and outlined the procedure that would be followed for the determination of the application.

(a)        The Application before the Sub-Committee

The Licensing Officer informed the Sub-Committee that an application to vary a Premises Licence had been received in respect of Il Bacio Caves at 160 Queens Road in Buckhurst Hill, along with representations from interested parties. The application had requested permission to: extend the hours for the Supply of Alcohol, for both the internal and external areas, from 8.00pm to 10.00pm; and replace the previously proposed condition “Customers shall not be permitted to smoke at the front of the premises” with “smoking is permitted within the designated smoking area provided for patrons”.

The Licensing Officer highlighted that, as the application was for a variation of an existing Licence and not a new Licence, paragraph 11 of the report should read:

“11.      In determining this application the Sub-Committee may take any of the following steps as it considers necessary for the promotion of the licensing objectives, namely:

·                                              to modify the conditions of the licence; or

·                                              to reject the whole or part of the application.

For the purposes of the Licensing Act 2003 the conditions of the licence are modified if any of them are altered or omitted or a new condition added.”

(b)        Presentation of the Applicant’s Case

Mr Alonso stated that the premises had been trading for twelve months now and there had been liaison with the Environment & Neighbourhoods team at the Council over any issues that had arisen.

It was accepted that there had been technical breaches of the Licence when the front door had been left open, but there had been mitigating circumstances for this. It was highlighted that there had been no objections from either Essex Police or Environment & Neighbourhoods team concerning the proposed extension of the Supply of Alcohol hours to 10.00pm.

Mr Alonso highlighted the confusion over some of the representations submitted as they mentioned potential problems for the nearby Children’s Nurseries, but no representations had been received from them. In addition, potential noise issues from taxi cabs were not a Licensing issue. In the last twelve months, there had only been two instances of crime in the immediate vicinity, and neither were connected with the premises as they had occurred at the either end of Queens  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63.