Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Walklett.

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To approve the minutes of the last meeting held on 4 December 2015

The minutes of the last meeting held on 4 December 2015 were approved and signed as a true record.

The Stable, 40 Clarence Street, Cheltenham

The Senior Licensing Officer, Andy Fox, introduced the report regarding an application from The Stable Bar and Restaurant Limited for permission to place 3 picnic style tables with benches on the pavement outside The Stable premises at 40 Clarence Street from 10:00 to 00:30 every day of the week.  Appendix 1 showed a picture of the proposed structure, with the location plan at Appendix B.

The Officer reported that objections had been received from Planning Enforcement on grounds of appearance of the tables and chairs and from Gloucestershire Constabulary on the lack of barriers around the designated licenced area.  He continued that in consultation with the applicant, it had been confirmed that the benches would be removed during non-trading hours, that the applicant was willing to place barriers around the proposed tables and chairs and that the applicant had agreed to the table and two seats on Clarence Street being excluded from the consent.

The Officers recommendation was to grant the application subject to the amendment from 3 to 2 tables with chairs and to the approval of the proposed design for the barriers.

In reply to questions from members, the Officer clarified that the pavement tables and chairs design guide (attached as Appendix C) was produced in 2002 and stated that wooden tables and chairs were not normally permitted in an urban setting and also confirmed that the area in blue on the location plan was private land and not highways.   The Officer stated he did not know the dimensions of the tables or whether the 8 tables behind the railings would remain out during non-trading hours.

Mr James Anderson, Solicitor for Poppleston Allen and Ms Poppy Armstrong, Operations Manager at The Stable were in attendance representing the applicant and Mr Anderson was invited to speak in support of the application.

In response to members’ previous questions to the Officer, Mr Anderson confirmed that the tables were 1 metre in length and 1.5m deep and designed to seat 4 people and that the tables and chairs on the private land behind the railings would remain there all the time.  He continued that they had applied for the maximum period allowed for the tables and chairs to be out, but in practice the premises would close at 11pm and they would be moved in at this time each evening.  Mr Anderson confirmed that they were happy to accept the recommendation not to have one of the tables on Clarence Street but asked the committee to give due consideration to the other 2 tables and chairs on Crescent Place.  With regard to wooden benches not being normal practice, Mr Anderson informed members that the benches chosen were of a high standard and hard wearing and that they wanted this particular style in order to be in keeping with the furniture inside the premises.  He felt that once they had weathered and stained, that they would be more in keeping with Cheltenham street scene and he circulated photos of tables that had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Miss Kirsty Westlake (Juicilicious)

The Senior Licensing Officer, Andy Fox, introduced the report regarding an application from Miss Kirsty Westlake of Juicilicious for a street trading consent to sell healthy food and drinks from a gazebo measuring 3m x 3m on the Promenade outside Waterstones from January to April, June to September and November from 08:00 to 18:30 Monday to Friday and 08:30 to 18:30 on Saturday and Sunday.  Appendix 1 showed the location of the proposed trading pitch and Appendix 2 gave an image of the trading unit.  The Officer continued that three objections had been received and advised that members must consider the application on this location plan and layout only.  The Officer recommendation was that this application be refused on the grounds of appearance and not in keeping with the streetscape; the goods to be sold not being unique and enhancing the enjoyment of the town and obstruction to the highway.

In response to a question from a member, the Officer reported that the Christmas, Farmers’ and Craft markets all used that area of the Promenade which were all actively promoted by the Council with tighter controls.  One member expressed concern about the objection on the grounds of the type of goods sold, as he felt competition was favourable and that nearby food establishments only had a limited variety of the healthy range on offer in this application.

The applicant was invited to speak in favour of her application.  Miss Westlake informed members that she would be selling healthy drinks, juices and smoothies, as well as three healthy breakfast options and healthy snacks.  In response to Huffkins’ objection to direct competition, she had up-dated her menu which no longer included lunch options and she felt the items on her new menu were not in competition with anyone else nearby.  Miss Westlake circulated a copy of her revised menu to members.

With regard to the objection of obstructing the highway, Miss Westlake reported that she had been under the impression from a member of the Licensing team that this pitch was already approved and had been advised to submit her application quickly. The Officer advised that the policy outlining the pitches had not yet been approved and thus each application for a pitch would go through on their own merit.  On this point, the Chair questioned the GCC comment regarding pedestrian access on the Promenade, as other larger markets were located there.

Miss Westlake continued that she agreed with the objection that the physical appearance of the gazebo was not in keeping with the streetscape for the Promenade and informed members of 2 different options that she considered more suitable, one being a tricycle and the other a more robust easy to set up half wooden hut and circulated pictures of these to the committee.  Members favoured the hut option, which with dimensions of 6ft x 4ft was smaller than the gazebo.

In reply to questions from members, the applicant stated that the reason she had not applied for trading consent  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Mr Keith David Lewis – PHD116

The Senior Licensing Officer, Andy Fox, introduced the report regarding an application for a review of Mr Keith David Lewis’ Private Hire Driver’s Licence PHD116 which was due for renewal on 8 December 2016.   Mr Lewis had a number of penalty points on his driver’s licence, details of which were outlined in the background papers, and had failed to declare these points to the council in accordance with statutory and policy requirements.   In the light of this, the matter had been brought to committee for members to consider if Mr Lewis remained a fit and proper person to hold such a licence.

In response to questions from members, the Officer informed the committee that Mr Lewis had no recollection of the speed he was driving on the three occasions, but that the SP30 fine indicated he was exceeding 30mph.  However as 3-6 points could be given for each offence and given that Mr Lewis was awarded 3 points on each occasion, it could be reasonably assumed that it was less than double the speed limit and not excessively over 30mph.  One member did point out that speed awareness courses were often offered for a first conviction if the speed was not much over the limit.  The Officer advised members that a driver’s licence was suspended at 12 points and that Mr Lewis had 9 points.  The Officer informed members that taxi drivers were reminded via newsletters of the requirement to inform the council of any convictions.   Drivers were also sent a copy of the conditions and a question on this point was in the test that the drivers had to pass and the Officer confirmed that Mr Lewis had correctly answered this question.

Mr Lewis was invited to address the committee and he apologised that it had slipped his mind to report the convictions to the council.  He further denied the allegation that he bragged about this, questioning why he would want to brag about the number of points he had on his licence.

In reply to questions, Mr Lewis informed members that he didn’t have any passengers when caught, that all offences were on transition from a 40mph limit to a 30mph area, one being on the way to Evesham and two being at the Walls roundabout in Gloucester.   He further added that he had been driving since the age of 19 and had been a licensed taxi driver for 3 years.  As all the offences were within a relatively short period of time of 7 months, a member questioned if there was a reason for this, to which Mr Lewis replied that although he had had some personal problems, there was no real reason just bad luck.

A member questioned if Mr Lewis had taken the DVSA driving test and the Officer informed that he had not as the policy to take this test had only changed some 6-8 months ago.  However Mr Lewis had taken the former Road Safety Unit test.

In considering whether Mr Lewis was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

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5 February 2016

5 February 2016