Rother District Council s11

Rother District Council

LICENSING & GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE LICENSING PANEL B 6 September 2005

Minutes of the Licensing Panel held at the Town Hall, Bexhill on Tuesday 6 September 2005 at 2.00 pm.

Members of the Licensing Panel Councillors: Mrs E.E. Armstrong, R.H. Patten (Substitute Member) and C.F. Starnes (Substitute Member).

Interested Parties Present Mr Jozef Rytlewski (Occupier), Mr Alan Hunting (Assisting the Occupier) and the following objectors: Mr Robert Duffill, Mrs Shelagh Duffill, Mr M. Bisset, Mrs M Goodale, Mr T. Houghton-Berry, Mr Barry Denny, Mrs Anne Denny, Dr Norman Sunderland, Mr G. Pilbeam, Mr Richard Widenka and Mr Peter Summers-Smith (Representing Mrs Summers-Smith).

Advisory Officers Present: Senior Environmental Health Officer, Licensing and Litigation Lawyer and Member Support Officer.

LP27. ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN

RESOLVED: Councillor C.F. Starnes was appointed as Chairman of Licensing Panel B for the meeting.

LP28. MINUTES

The Chairman was authorised to sign the minutes of the meeting of Licensing Panel B held on 2 August 2005 as a correct record of the proceedings.

LP29. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs W.M. Miers and K.J. Bridger.

LP30. APPLICATION FOR PREMISES LICENCE – YE OLDE KINGS HEAD

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Services which gave details of an application for a premises licence at Ye Olde Kings Head, 37 Mount Street, Battle. The application had been subject to representations and had therefore been referred to the Licensing Panel for determination.

The Panel proceeded to hear the case following the adopted procedure and all parties present at the hearing were invited to address the Panel.

The Licensing and Litigation Lawyer outlined the relevant legal provisions and issues which Members should consider. Members then deliberated 1 the application which was determined having regard to the four licensing objectives.

RESOLVED: That the application for a premises licence in respect of Ye Olde Kings Head Public House be determined as shown at Appendix 1 attached hereto.

CHAIRMAN The meeting closed at 4.05 pm. LPB050906.nls

2 Rother District Council Appendix 1 DECISION NO 05/01337/LAPRE

LICENSING PANEL DECISION NOTICE

Date of Licensing Panel Meeting: 6 September 2005 Venue: Town Hall, Bexhill Date of Decision: 6 September 2005

NAME AND ADDRESS OF Ye Olde Kings Head PREMISES: 37 Mount Street Battle TN33 0EG

NAME(S) OF APPLICANT: Mr Jozef Rytlewski

REASON(S) FOR REPORT: 21 Representations had been received from local residents in regard to public nuisance.

DECISION MADE: On balance, the Panel has decided to grant the application with certain restrictions. The Panel considered the submissions made by the Applicant and the amended hours offered at the hearing. In particular, the Applicant offered to reduce his final sales between 30 minutes and 1 hour from that proposed with an allowance to permit 12 occasions per year where he could open until later, subject to notice being provided to Sussex Police and the Licensing Authority and thereafter with their approval. Whilst this did not eliminate the large number of representations, it certainly made inroads to the concerns raised by Sussex Police. The Panel heard that the area was predominantly a residential area and with a small number of businesses. The current landlord had been in place since April 2005.

The Panel heard from a number of representants, including their nominated spokesperson, Mr Houghton- Berry, concerning the matters of noise disturbance and the frequency and duration of these music events. Residents complained that noise breakout was considerable and that it made it very difficult to sleep or indeed enjoy any degree of family life when music was being played. Similarly, residents were concerned at the parking of vehicles in and around the premises, including the communal car park, when departing patrons of the premises could often be loud and disturbing. Complaints 3 were also made about some patrons of the premises who were caught urinating in nearby gardens.

A short video was shown, recorded by a resident, that attempted to show the levels of noise from the premises arising at a live music event. The Applicant stated that music events would be limited and that he was happy to accept a condition that would see amplified music ceasing at certain times and, from that point, only acoustic music would be provided. Equally, he was happy to see other conditions designed to contain the noise levels.

The Panel rejected the submission by the applicant that anybody buying a property near to a public house should expect some noise and disturbance. There appeared to be no direct objection to the longer hours for the sale of alcohol at the premises other than general comments about the departing patrons. Consequently, Members were unwilling to directly reject the longer hours within the application.

Having accepted the amendment to the application by the Applicant in relation to the hours during which recorded music would operate, Members had to deal with the non- standard hours requested by the applicant. These were considered within the restrictions offered by the Applicant for 12 occurrences per year but these would be subject to the consent of Sussex Police and the Licensing Authority.

The conditions and the restrictions imposed on the licence were considered reasonable to balance the Applicants wish for longer hours, and to restrict the impact of the premises on persons living within the vicinity of the premises. It was clear to Members that operations within existing licensing hours during 2004/5 had not been carried out without complaint, and therefore there was a need to protect the prevention of public nuisance objective during new longer hours.

The Panel considered the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy, and the Guidance and they were satisfied that the hours granted and the conditions attached were reasonable to prevent breaches of the licensing objectives.

In recognising the concerns raised about the specific issues under the licensing objectives the application is granted subject to mandatory conditions prescribed by section 19 of the Licensing Act 2003 and the following conditions:

The hours of licensable activities shall be restricted as follows:

4 Sale of alcohol: Sunday – Wednesday 10.00 – 00.00 Thursday 10.00 – 12.30 Friday – Saturday 10.00 – 01.00

Performance of live music Monday – Sunday 12.00 – 00.00

Playing of recorded music Sunday – Wednesday 10.00 – 00.00 Thursday 10.00 – 12.30 Friday – Saturday 10.00 – 01.00

Entertainment of a similar description Monday – Sunday 12.00 – 00.00

Provision of facilities for making music Monday – Sunday 10.00 – 00.00

Late night refreshment Sunday – Wednesday 23.00 – 00.30 Thursday – Saturday 10.00 – 01.00

Approval for Supply of Alcohol, Recorded Music Christmas Eve 10.00 – 02.00 Boxing Day 08.00 – 02.00

Approval for Live Music, Provision of facilities for making music Christmas Eve 12.00 – 01.00

Provision of retail sale of alcohol until 2am restricted to 12 occasions per year subject to 14 days notice to Sussex Police and Licensing Authority approval. Consent to remove all embedded restrictions in the Licensing Act 1964.

CONDITIONS:

CD8 Proof of Age A notice shall be displayed in and at the entrance to the premises where they can be clearly seen and read and shall indicate that it is unlawful for persons under 18 to purchase alcohol or for any person to purchase alcohol on behalf of a person under 18 years of age.

CD12 Pubwatch Scheme The licence holder and/or the designated premises supervisor or a person nominated by them shall be a member of and regularly attend the meetings of the Pubwatch or similar scheme for the area within which the premises is located. 5 PN6 Noise & Vibration Noise or vibration shall not emanate from the premises so as to cause a nuisance to the occupants of nearby properties.

PN7 Noise & Vibration Prominent, clear and legible notices are displayed at all exits requesting the public to respect the needs of local residents and to leave the premises and the area quietly.

PN16 Noise & Vibration All doors and windows shall be kept closed, except for the immediate access and egress of the public and staff, whilst regulated entertainment is in progress and adequate mechanical ventilation shall be provided. All external doors shall be fitted with self-closers for this purpose.

Noise and Vibration There shall be no amplified music after 22.00 hours on any day.

REASONS FOR DECISION: Having listened carefully to all the submissions, the Panel accepted the evidence provided in support of the application and granted the Licence. In recognising the concerns raised by those people who had made representations, the Panel were minded to impose several conditions to alleviate concerns of the public nuisance caused by the noise of music and departing patrons.

A written or electronic copy of this Notice will be publicly available to all Parties, and published on the Council’s website.