Agenda item

The Licensing Authority has received an application to vary the premises licence for the premises known as Grooves on the Green, Ashley Cross Park, Parkstone, Poole BH14 0ES.

This matter is brought before the Sub Committee for determination.

Attendance:

BCP Council:

Tania Jardim –  Licensing Officer

Johanne McNamara – Legal Advisor to the Sub-Committee

Michelle Cutler – Clerk to the Sub-Committee

Cllr Chapmanlaw – Observing for training purposes

Cllr Farquhar – Observing for training purposes

The Chair made introductions and explained the procedure for the hearing, which was agreed by all parties. The Applicant, Mrs Janice Crump, advised that a member of her party, Mr Josh Baker, Security Company Representative, was going to be late for the hearing, however, she was happy for the hearing to commence without him present.

The Licensing Officer presented the report, a copy of which had been circulated and a copy of which appears as Appendix A to these minutes in the Minute Book. The Sub-Committee was asked to consider an application made by Mrs Janice Crump to vary the premises licence for ‘Grooves on the Green’, Ashley Cross, Parkstone Park, Parkstone, BH14 0ES, to extend the hours for licensable activities by adding Friday 15:00hrs to 21:00hrs and to increase the hours on Saturday to terminate at 21:00hrs.

The Licensing Authority had received one representation from a local resident on the grounds of the Prevention of Crime and Disorder and Public Safety and Public Nuisance licensing objectives.

The following persons attended the Hearing and addressed the Sub-Committee to expand on the points made in their written submissions:

Mrs Janice Crump – the Applicant, (Event Organiser, Designated Premises Supervisor and Premises Licence Holder)

Mr Andrew Watts – Event Organiser

Mr Josh Baker – Security Company Representative (arrived at 10:30hrs)

The objector that had made a representation, Ms Kim Rowley, was not in attendance.

The Sub-Committee asked various questions of all parties present and was grateful for the responses received. All parties had the opportunity to ask questions.

All parties were invited to sum up before the Sub-Committee retired to make its decision. Before concluding the Hearing, the Legal Advisor advised all parties of the right of appeal. 

RESOLVED that the application to vary the premises licence for ‘Grooves on the Green’, Ashley Cross, Parkstone Park, Parkstone, BH14 0ES to extend the hours for licensable activities by adding Friday 15:00 to 21:00 and to increase the hours on Saturday to terminate at 21:00 be GRANTED, with the following conditions attached, as agreed with BCP Council’s Environmental Health through mediation in advance of the Hearing:

      I.         On site monitoring of sound levels will be carried out by a competent person at least every hour in two locations. These locations will be agreed in advance with Environmental Health. A log detailing the time, location and the levels measured will be completed and will be available for council officers to view both during and after the event.

    II.         A contact number for the event organiser will be made available to Environmental Health in advance of the event, this number with be monitored throughout the event should officers need to speak to the organiser.

   III.         A letter drop will be made to nearby residents in advance of the event. This letter will contain details and timings of the event and contain a contact number for residents to call should they have any issues. This number will be monitored throughout the duration of the event.

Reason for the Decision

The Sub-Committee considered all the information which had been submitted before the Hearing and contained in the report for Agenda Item 7, together with the additional information from the Applicant contained within the supplementary papers and the verbal submissions made at the Hearing by Janice Crump, the Applicant and Event Organiser, Andrew Watts, Joint Event Organiser and Josh Baker, Security Company Representative.

The Sub-Committee considered the written representation made by Kim Rowley, local resident, on the grounds that granting the variation would undermine the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, and the prevention of public nuisance licensing objective. The Sub-Committee noted Ms Rowley was not present at the Hearing to expand on her representation and had submitted no evidence to support her claims. The Sub-Committee was satisfied that the Applicant had thoroughly addressed all points raised in Ms Rowley’s written representation during the Hearing,

The Sub-Committee noted that there had been no representations made by any responsible authorities and that there was no evidence of any previous complaints associated with the event, which had been running for a number of years. The Sub-Committee noted that meditation had taken place between the event organisers and BCP Council’s Environmental Health, and 3 conditions had been agreed.

The Sub-Committee noted that the event organisers had engaged fully with responsible authorities and had attended several Safety Advisory Group (SAG) meetings. The event organisers appeared to have a strong working relationship with the event security team and the Sub-Committee was satisfied that the event organisers would run the event both safely and professionally.

The Sub-Committee did not find any evidence to justify a refusal of the application and was satisfied that if the premises operated in accordance with the conditions, as set out above, that the premises should not undermine the licensing objectives, particularly the prevention of crime and disorder and the prevention of public nuisance.

In making this decision the Sub-Committee have had regard to the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council Licensing Policy, the revised guidance, as set out by the Secretary of State and the licensing objectives, as set out in the Licensing Act 2003. 

Right of Appeal

All parties to the application have the right to appeal to the Magistrate’s Court within the period of twenty-one days beginning with the day on which the applicant is notified by the Licensing Authority of this decision in writing.