Venue: Council Chamber, Town Hall, Royal Tunbridge Wells, TN1 1RS. View directions
Contact: Cheryl Clark Democratic Services Officer
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Apologies for Absence Minutes: No apologies were received. |
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Declarations of Interest: To receive any declarations of interest by members in items on the agenda. For any advice on declarations of interest, please contact the Monitoring Officer. Minutes: No declarations of interest were made by members at the meeting. |
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Additional documents:
Minutes: The Licensing Sub-Committee proceeded to hear the case following the adopted procedure rules. The application for variation of a premises licence for Zee Bar, High Street, Tunbridge Wells was summarised by the Licensing Officer, Dave Packham. Mr Packham went on to clarify that late night refreshment was only a licensable activity from 11pm until 5am the next morning. The Council’s Senior Lawyer, Robin Harris, pointed out that the response in the agenda pack from Environmental Health was dated 2016 and the up-to-date response, dated 2017, was tabled for Members.
The applicant’s legal representative, Mr Thomas, summarised the details of the application and stressed that it was the sale of alcohol that was being applied for as a licensable activity and not its consumption. Mr Thomas said that, currently, customers who stayed after 1am on a Thursday night were pre-loading alcohol and as a responsible licence holder, the applicant was asking for the removal of an anomaly on the existing licence.
Mr Thomas referred to the comments made by the Environmental Health team which stated that the staff at Zee Bar worked hard to ensure that the noise from customers leaving the premises was kept as minimal as possible. Mr Thomas added that the Zee Bar had established a good relationship with the police, who had not objected to the application and also had support from the Safe Town Partnership.
Mr Thomas said the application to extend the hours on a Thursday to bring them in line with the rest of the week would allow the monitoring of customers and alcohol consumption. He expressed concern that letters of representation received from residents made no reference to other venues that could have contributed to the noise and disturbance experienced. He added that the Zee Bar did have a responsible view and had door staff numbers in excess of those required, who instructed customers to disperse in a way that had the least impact on residents. Mr Thomas further added that, if it was a Zee Bar customer who behaved irresponsibly then they would be banned from the premises.
Mr Thomas referred to a ‘chill down’ room in the venue which would provide hot drinks and snacks, and possibly food in the future, and could discourage customers from visiting fast food outlets and causing further disturbance.
Councillor Backhouse asked whether individuals who were barred by the Zee Bar would also be barred from all other venues in the borough, in line with the policies of the Pubwatch scheme. Mr Thomas confirmed that this would be the case. Councillor Backhouse also asked how many customers the Zee Bar averaged on a Thursday. Mr Thomas said it was approximately 50 but hoped it would double to 100 should the application be granted.
The Environmental Health Officer, Tanya Lomakin, said there was a level of understanding behind the reason for the application, which was to continue selling alcohol for the remaining two hours of opening and thereby remain competitive with other venues. Miss Lomakin did, however, ... view the full minutes text for item LSC9/15 |
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