Agenda and minutes

Councillor Whyborn was duly elected as Chairman.

Mr Kevin Boote, objector, had given his apologies.  

No interests were declared.

Cheltenham Town Training Ground, Quat Goose Lane, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL51 9RX

Phil Cooper, Licensing Officer, introduced the report as circulated with the agenda.  An application had been received for a premises licence at Cheltenham Town Training Ground, Quat Goose Lane, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL51 9RX.

The application sought authorisation for the following licensable activities from 9am to 11pm every day:

• The sale/supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises
• The performance of live music indoors only
• The playing of recorded music indoors only

The Licensing Officer referred Members to page 2 of the report which listed the applicants’ steps to promote the licensing objectives;

• Alcohol consumption and entertainment would be restricted to organised events for employees and relatives, or those held in the function room. 
• Event organisers and staff would be required to ensure that people leave the premises quietly and do not congregate unnecessarily.
• Adoption of the Challenge 25 scheme (or equivalent).

The Licensing Officer confirmed that none of the eight responsible authorities had objected to the application.  Representations had been received from 18 people, 5 of which were withdrawn subsequent to the applicants having made changes to their original application.  The end-time for licensable activities was revised, from 01:00 hours to 23:00 hours, music (live or recorded) would be played indoors only and late night refreshment no longer formed part of the application.  The 13 remaining representations were summarised at Paragraph 4.1 of the report and attached at Appendix D. 

Before inviting representatives of the applicants to address the committee, the Chairman confirmed that members of the Sub Committee had been in receipt of the papers some days before the meeting and had undertaken a site visit to view the premises. 

The applicants were represented at the Sub Committee by company directors Paul Godfrey and John Murphy, who spoke in support of the application.

John Murphy advised the Sub Committee that the premises at Quat Goose Lane had been rented by Cheltenham Football Club last year.  The high rental costs had necessitated sharing of the premises with three others and the application aimed to further maximise income and alleviate financial pressure.  He explained that the primary reason for the application in its original form was that it matched the licence granted to Zurich in the past.  Unlike Zurich, however, which was holding approximately 80 events a year, the applicants estimated that they would hold approximately 3 events per month, with only 7 provisional bookings for the ensuing 12 months.  He hastened to add that event organisers would be referred to the Whaddon Road facility in the first instance, which was better equipped to host events.  He reiterated some of the measures that would be taken to avoid alienating neighbours; one full time cleaner with responsibility for maintaining the exterior of the facility, a security professional on standby for each event, professional bar staff from the Whaddon Road site, closure of the left-hand car park and removal of the skips.  He also noted that no advertising would be undertaken, but instead there would be a reliance  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.