Agenda and minutes

Proposed by Councillor Meyers,

Seconded by Councillor Fuller; and

RESOLVED:

That Councillor P Martin be elected Chairman for the meeting.

(Voting figures: 3 for, 0 against, 0 abstentions).

Members of the Council should declare any interests which fall under the following categories:

a)       disclosable pecuniary interests (DPI)

b)       other significant interests (OSI)

c)       voluntary announcements of other interests

There were no declarations of interest at the meeting.

Members should complete the enclosed yellow form and return it to the Committee Administrator at the meeting.

There were no declarations of lobbying.  Lobbying forms were signed and returned to Committee Services. 

This report outlines the application made by The Peoples Cafe Folkestone Ltd for a new Premises Licence in the Old High Street in Folkestone. 2 Representations were received and therefore the Licensing Sub-Committee must determine the outcome for the application.

Report DCL/19/20 outlined the application made by the People’s Café, Folkestone Ltd, for a new Premises Licence in the Old High Street in Folkestone. Two representations had been received and therefore the Licensing Sub-Committee needed to determine the outcome for the application.

The Chairman introduced those present and explained the process to be followed at the meeting.   

Mrs Briony Williamson, Senior Licensing Officer, presented the Committee with an overview of the report.  She advised that representations had been made by the District Council’s Planning Department and a member of the public.  She outlined the representation which had been submitted by the Planning department, which was included within the agenda pack.

Mr Hamilton Boyd, the applicant, was invited to speak.  He made points including the following:

·       The venue would be a free events space for the local community.

·       It was a new business and he had been through a rigorous application process both with the landlord, and in terms of the EU generation grant application.

·       The focus of the premises would be a relaxed, happy atmosphere high end cocktail bar. There would be no drinks deals or happy hour, no dancefloor, and no beer would be served.

·       A resident’s loyalty scheme would also be implemented, to attract local residents.

·       Mr Hamilton Boyd had 22 years of experience in the licenced trade, 11 of which were as a personal license holder with experience of venues that had a capacity of 1,000 people.

·       He was confident in his ability to meet the licensing objectives.

·       There were three licensed premises in the vicinity of the Bail steps which could be contributing towards incidents of anti-social behaviour.

·       Local taxi numbers would be on display in the premises, and customers would be allowed to wait inside the premises while waiting for their taxi to arrive.

The Chairman then invited Mr O’Connor, an interested party, to outline his representation. He made points including the following:

·       His representation also reflected the views of neighbours and the residents association.

·       To add to the existing premises would exacerbate the existing issues.

·       In the period May 2018 to May 2019, there were 491 incidents of anti-social behaviour offences in the area.  Although reported crime was now down, violent crime had increased and anti-social behaviour had not decreased at all.

·       He was not objecting to the existence of the premises, but the late night hours were the biggest concern.

·       The applicant had an opportunity to show an understanding of the market and the community, and he had failed in the latter.

·       The stairway to another nearby venue regularly had to be hosed down, and other local shop keepers had experienced damage to their premises. 

The Sub-Committee Members then asked questions of the applicant and interested party.

The interested party responded, and advised that there was evidence that the commercial aspect of drugs could find an audience in the area. There was also increased police activity, and evidence of exploitation of young people. There was evidence of drugs paraphernalia within a ten minute  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.