Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Wheeler.

Councillors Willingham and Boyes declared they had visited the site.

Minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2020.

The minutes of the Full Licensing Committee meeting held on 2 September 2020 were approved and signed.

Minutes of the meetings of:

·         Licensing Sub Committee (Miscellaneous) held on 4 November 2020

·         Licensing Sub Committee (Alcohol and Gambling) held on:

11 August 2020

24 September 2020

4 November 2020

The minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Sub-Committee (Miscellaneous) held on 4 November 2020 were approved and signed.

The minutes of the meetings of the Licensing Sub-Committee (Alcohol and Gambling) held on 11 August 2020, 24 September 2020 and 4 November 2020 were approved and signed.

The Urban Meadow Café

The Senior Licensing Officer introduced the report.  An application had been received from The Urban Meadow Café, 24 Rodney Road, to place an advertising board on the High Street at the junction with Rodney Road.  The size of the A Board was compliant with policy and a picture of proposed A Board was attached with the report.  A location plan of the proposed location was also attached to the report, however the Officer stated that the location did not comply with policy requirements, in that an ‘A’ Board should be placed directly outside or immediately adjacent to the premises entrance.  Whilst no objections had been received, the Officer’s recommendation was to refuse the application based on non-compliance with the council’s policy on location.

The Officer reminded members of the aims and objectives of the council’s policy and stated that if members granted the application reasons must be stated for deviating from policy.

In response to questions from members, the Officer;

• Shared his screen to show an image of the frontage of the premise and its location within Rodney Road, as well as the size of the footway.
• Confirmed that he was not aware of any similar businesses who had permissions for A boards in that location.  However further along the High Street he confirmed there was a mixture of A boards, some with and some without permission and that action was being taken to deal with those without permission.
• Confirmed that the Government had introduced new legislation in the light of Covid to allow more widespread use of tables and chairs on the pavement on a temporary basis and a member questioned whether this could be considered in relation to A boards as well. However the Officer was unaware of similar legislation with regard to objects on the highway.

The Chair invited the applicant’s representative, Jo Baker, to address members.  Ms Baker stated she owned the lease on the property at 24 Rodney Road, having taken a 12 year lease in January of this year and had started trading as a café on the ground floor and a yoga studio on the first floor.  After just 3 months of trading, the business was closed down due to the corona virus pandemic and on re-opening after lockdown she rebranded the business to give it a boost.  Ms Baker explained that on seeing a number of A boards on the high street, she thought that would be an excellent way of increasing footfall down to the café from the High Street.

She reported that she had had a promising August and attributed an increase in income to the A board advertising.  However in September she was asked to remove the A board by the Licensing team as she did not have a proper consent.  This she did immediately and proceeded to submit an application and the appropriate fee on 1^st October.   However, the 28 day consultation period was delayed as a record of payment could not be found and Ms Baker  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Report of the Licensing Team Leader

The Senior Licensing Officer presented the response to the consultation on the revised Street Scene Policy.  He stated that the public consultation period was open until 14 January and that members of the committee had the opportunity now to feedback their comments to the Cabinet Member for Cyber and Safety, for consideration by Cabinet.  Members were asked to note the revisions to the revised policy as outlined in Appendix 2 to the report.  It was subsequently pointed out that members had a copy of the revised report but without the amendments being highlighted.

Apart from some minor grammatical changes, the principal proposed changes related to strengthening the authority’s position on determining applications that do not comply with policy; lengthening the consultation period; formalising the requirement to maintain minimum 1.8m unobstructed thoroughfare; updating the council’s approach to enforcement; and permissions around advertising structures such as A boards.

The Chair thanked the Licensing team for the work they had done on this policy.

One member raised the point of the raised piece of land between Montpellier wine bar and the Courtyard, which was privately owned land and where there had been  issues about tables and chairs and signage on this private land and who was responsible for them.  He felt this should be regularised.

The Chair felt a discussion with Highways to get a better understanding of the rules regarding private land could be beneficial.

A member pointed out that there were several references to Cheltenham Borough Council’s Local Plan adopted in 2006, however he pointed out that a new one was adopted in 2019.  This needed to be altered and to double check that the core commercial area was still the same in the new policy.  The Licensing Officer would verify this.

Concern was also expressed about the interpretation of the default position and presumption of refusal, as many applications came to committee because they did not comply with policy.  The Chair pointed out that it was the committee’s role to state the reasons for reaching any decision.

In response to a member’s concern about the 1.8m ruling and whether this distance should be the same for passing both tables and chairs in the highway as well as A boards, and whether the latter should be 1.2m, the Licensing Officers were asked to review this measurement as a sensible consideration.  Another member however felt that the distance should not be changed.

The Chair asked Officers to ensure there was a robust equalities impact assessment on this and to consider sending the consultation to the likes of the National Institute for the Blind and other disability charities to be able to comment on the policy to ensure accessibility for those who struggle. 

The Chair also wished to look at alternative signage provision, whereby businesses in lower footfall areas could purchase a modular sign that could be attached to something, enabling a single piece of street furniture as opposed to several.

Members were asked to:

·         Note the revisions to the revised policy as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

There were no urgent items to be discussed.

The Chair however wished to record his thanks to the Licensing Team, One Legal and the Democratic Services team for their hard work in manging these meetings and wished everyone a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

3 March 2021

3 March 2021.