Agenda and minutes

(Monitoring Officer) To declare interests in any item on this agenda.

There were no declarations of interest pursuant to the Council’s Code of Member Conduct.

The Sub-Committee noted the procedure for the conduct of business for the Sub-Committee, as outlined in Article 8 in the Constitution.

To consider the attached report.

The Licensing Enforcement Officer informed the Sub-Committee that the Applicant had requested an adjournment for this application, to enable their newly appointed Legal Team to prepare. Consequently, this application would be considered at a future meeting of the Sub-Committee.

To consider the attached report.

The three Councillors that presided over this item were Councillors J Jennings (Chairman), A Lion and C P Pond. The Chairman welcomed the participants and requested that they introduce themselves to the Sub-Committee. In attendance on behalf of the application was the Applicant, Mr A K Balamir. There were no objectors in attendance. The Chairman then introduced the Members and Officers present and outlined the procedure that would be followed for the determination of the application.

The Application before the Sub-Committee

The Licensing Enforcement Officer informed the Sub-Committee that an application to vary the Premises Licence had been received in respect of Baylis Food & Wine at 159 High Road in Loughton.

The application had requested permission to vary the hours for the supply of alcohol and the hours the premises were open to the public as follows:

The application had been properly advertised and the Council had received six representations relating to the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance and the protection of children from harm. Essex Police Licensing had also responded and offered a number of recommended conditions which had been agreed with the Applicant and would be added to the Licence if the application was approved.

Presentation of the Applicant’s Case

Mr Balamir informed the Sub-Committee that the extra hours requested were mainly for Friday and Saturday evenings, with a small increase on Sunday evenings. The extended hours were designed to give the shop’s customers a better service and generate additional revenue for the business. The Premises had a large number of regular customers who would like the additional hours at weekends to purchase not just alcohol but also household grocery items. The business had also just implemented an app-based delivery service, which it would like to be included in the additional hours requested.

The Applicant reminded the Sub-Committee that Essex Police had not objected to the application, and there would be no problems created for the public as the Premises was surrounded by other Shops and Offices; there were no residences nearby. The application would not generate excessive amounts of additional traffic, and there was always traffic on the High Road in Loughton at all times of the day and night. The deliveries were loaded and dispatched from the car parking area at the back of the Premises.

The Applicant acknowledged that there had been problems late at night during the weekends along the High Road, but these had been caused by The Luxe and the New Bar, when they were permitted to open late. There had been no problems within the Premises; the Challenge 25 initiative had been adopted by the Premises, which also had its own CCTV system, so it was not envisaged that any problems would be caused by the requested extension at the Premises. It was more  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To consider the attached report.

The three Councillors that presided over this item were Councillors J Jennings (Chairman), P Stalker and C P Pond. The Chairman welcomed the participants and requested that they introduce themselves to the Sub-Committee. In attendance on behalf of the application was the Applicant, Mr M V Chesniou, and Councillor P Keska, a District Councillor for the Chipping Ongar, Greensted & Marden Ash ward. There were no objectors in attendance. The Chairman then introduced the Members and Officers present and outlined the procedure that would be followed for the determination of the application.

The Application before the Sub-Committee

The Licensing Enforcement Officer informed the Sub-Committee that an application to vary the Premises Licence had been received in respect of Turkwise at 162 High Street in Ongar.

The application had requested permission to change the name of the Premises to Porterhouse Wine Bar and Kitchen, and to vary the hours for the supply of alcohol, the opening hours of the Premises, the permitted hours for the playing of Recorded and Live Music and the permitted hours for Late Night Refreshment as follows:

The application had been properly advertised and the Council had received four representations relating to the prevention of crime and disorder, the prevention of public nuisance and the protection of children from harm. Essex Police Licensing had also responded and offered a number of recommended conditions which had been agreed with the Applicant and would be added to the Licence if the application was approved.

Presentation of the Applicant’s Case

The Applicant introduced himself to the Sub-Committee and gave a brief resume of his professional career. He had arrived in Ongar in 2016 to take over the Turkwise restaurant, and since that time there had been excellent feedback from his customers and there had been no incidents of disorder to report.

Cllr Keska stated that the Premises would be a restaurant, and the sale of alcohol would only ever be in connection with having a meal at the Premises, which was a quality dining establishment. The extra hour requested would bring the Premises in line with the other Licensed premises in Ongar High Street. The Applicant had accepted all of the recommended additional conditions suggested by Essex Police, and the Applicant was committed to the business and making the restaurant a successful venue.

In relation to the objections received from local residents, Cllr Keska stated that Castle Street was at least 200 yards away from the Premises, and although St Martins Mews was closer to the Premises, there were no entrances or exits from the Premises which led to St Martins Mews.

Questions for the Applicant from the Sub-Committee

In response to a number of questions from the Sub-Committee, the Applicant provided the following points of clarification.

There had been no complaints received regarding the volume levels of the music within the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

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.

Background Papers:  Article 17 - 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 and in respect of executive reports, the advice of any political advisor.

The Council will make available for public inspection for four years after the date of the meeting one copy of each of the documents on the list of background papers.

The Sub-Committee noted that there was no business which required the exclusion of the public and press from the meeting.