Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Parsons and Wilkinson.  Councillor Fisher attended as a substitute for Councillor Parsons.

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To approve the minutes of the last meeting held on 12 January 2017.

The minutes of the last meeting held on 12 January 2017 were approved and signed as a true record.

Mr Edward Danter

The Licensing Officer, Phil Cooper, introduced the report regarding an application made by Mr Edward Danter for a street trading consent to sell hot food and cold drinks from a unit measuring 4.8 by 2.4m on the High Street near to the junction with Cambray Place.  Mr Danter had applied for consent to trade from 10 November 2017 to 7 January 2018, trading every day from 9am to 6pm, except Thursday which was until 9pm and Sunday which was 11am to 5pm. 

Appendix 1 showed the proposed location of the trading pitch and Appendix 2 showed an image of the trading unit. 

During the consultation objections were received from the council’s senior environmental health officer, who opposed the application due to complaints received last year.  In addition, Cheltenham Business Improvement District had responded on behalf of several businesses in the vicinity, 1 of which had supported the application, 1 provided a neutral response and the remaining 4 had opposed it. All consultation responses were listed in paragraph 4.1 of the report.

The Officer continued that the proposed location was an approved trading site in the council’s policy, however the policy restricted the type of goods to be sold in that location to sign-up services and buskers selling merchandise. It was not an approved location for food and drink sales. The policy also limited the size of trading units in that location to 6 metres squared which the proposed trading unit exceeded.  He advised members that whilst the policy made these specifications, each application should be determined on its own merits and that the committee could depart from the policy if there were clear reasons for doing so.  He informed the committee that having listened to all the facts, they should either grant the street trading consent, modify it or refuse it.

A member questioned the impact the John Lewis development might have on this trading location by Christmas 2017 and was informed that the retail unit was not due to open until spring 2018, so works would still be on-going in this area and that highways had been consulted but had not objected.

The Chair asked Mr Danter to address the committee in support of his application.  Mr Danter introduced himself as the son of Ellen Danter, who was also present and who had been street trading successfully for 30 years.  He explained that Mrs Danter would soon be retiring from the family business and that he was starting to take a more leading role.  Mr Danter stated that he wanted to continue the business using the same street trading unit as had been used for the last 14 years, selling pork and turkey rolls, sausages and hot and cold drinks and would be trading from the same pitch as last year.

In reply to questions from members, the applicant stated that it would be possible to cook the onions off site and keep them warm in a bain-marie with lid to reduce the smell as much as possible.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Report of Licensing Team Leader

The Licensing Officer, Phil Cooper, introduced the report of the Licensing Team Leader on the review of the Licensing Committee Structure and Operation.  He reminded members that in July 2016 Council had decided that a review of the licensing committee’s structure and meeting arrangements should be undertaken by officers in consultation with the committee.  The rationale for the review was explained in paragraph 3 of the report.

Following consultation, officers had now prepared a draft proposed structure, under which the full committee would be scheduled to meet 4 times a year with the case-by-case business being discharged by 2 sub-committees. The proposed structure was illustrated at Appendix 1 to the report.

The Officer advised that if the committee approved the structure, the new arrangements would be implemented from September 2017. 

Members debated the proposals set out in the report and the following points were made or clarified:-

·         There would be five members on each of the sub-committees and members would swap over on an annual basis.  Members could sub from one committee to the other to cover absences.

·         Currently a full committee debated minor miscellaneous matters and only 3 members discussed more in-depth matters.  The new structure would address this and allow improved proportionality on each sub-committee of 5 members.

·         The new proposal would allow opportunities for member development, for different members to be part of the ad-hoc alcohol and gambling sub-committee, whilst still cross party working and still being quorate with 3 members should 2 members not be able to attend.

·         With the full committee meeting four times a year, more time could be allocated to reviewing the policies giving members more input into the policies that govern their licensing decisions.  The full committee would also provide the opportunity for extra training and for being pro-active on certain issues.

·         The annual allowance for the Chair could be split between the Chair and vice chair, as the vice chair would be chairing one of the sub-committees and taking on more responsibility.  This matter would be considered by the Independent Remuneration Panel when they next meet and reported back to council.   If the Chair was unavailable for a certain meeting then another Chair would be elected from within the membership of that sub-committee.  It was remarked that there was no training for Chairs, but suggested that the Local Government Association might do some.

·         It was confirmed that 12 meetings of licensing would be diarised, on the first Wednesday of each month.  Of these 12, four would be full committee meetings.  Any of the 12 slots could be used for scheduling the Miscellaneous Licensing Sub-committee according to business.  The Alcohol and Gambling Sub-committee would be scheduled on an ad hoc basis, as at present, as these committees had to be held within a 20-working-day period of the close of consultation.  If this were to coincide with a scheduled Wednesday evening slot, then this would be used. 

The Chair and Vice Chair both advocated their support of this new committee structure, with the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Licensing up-date on new legislation as of 6 April 2017

Members were asked to note the Briefing Note which outlined the details of the new licensing legislation that came into force on 6 April 2017 as some of the legislation would impact on the Council and Officers. 

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Wednesday 10 May 2017 at 6pm

Wednesday 10 May 2017 at 6pm.