Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Paul McCloskey.

Councillor Dennis Parsons declared that he was a close associate of an employee of Woody’s (agenda item 5) and thus would not be voting on this item.

None.

To approve the minutes of the last meeting held on 9 November 2016.

The minutes of the last meeting held on 9 November 2016 were approved and signed as a true record. 

In reply to a matter arising from the minutes, the Legal Officer informed members that it was still obligatory for a paper copy of the minutes to be signed as it was a regulatory committee.

Mr Adrian Wood t/a Woody's Fruit & Veg

The Licensing Team Leader, Louis Krog, introduced the report regarding the review of Mr Adrian Wood’s, trading as Woody’s Fruit & Veg, street trading consent.  Mr Wood has had a street trading consent to sell fruit and vegetables from the High Street entrance to the Henrietta Street car park since April 2016. Appendix 1 showed the location of the trading pitch.  The trading location is a mixed used space with a mix of vehicular and pedestrian access.  In July 2016 the council undertook a risk assessment of the location to assess its continued suitability for street trading. A copy of the risk assessment was attached at Appendix 2.  The risk assessment highlighted risks associated with the mixed use nature of the location and as a consequence, officers considered it appropriate to seek a review of the suitability of this location for the purpose of street trading. In addition, the location had also resulted in noise complaints from local residents, complaints about the use of Mr Wood’s van restricting access to the car park, the trading location restricting access to the bicycle racks located near the car park entrance and difficulties associated with commercial licences since Mr Wood was occupying Cheltenham Borough Council owned land. 

The Officer continued that prior to his current location Mr Wood had two trading pitches, one on Church Street and one on the High Street, which had proved unsuitable for the type of operation and thus Mr Wood had consolidated into one trading location.  The Officer informed members that as of today, the day of the meeting, he had been advised that the area to the side of the disused toilet block on the corner of Ambrose Street was available for Mr Wood.

The Officer advised the committee to consider whether to revoke the consent with immediate effect if they felt it no longer a safe place to trade from or to take no further action.

In reply to questions from members the Officer confirmed that members could leave the consent in place and add conditions or they could defer if they so wished.  He advised that there had not been any accidents relating to that trading pitch in the last nine months since Mr Wood had been there and that the risk assessment was based on the opinion of a professional Health and Safety Officer. 

Mr Richard Knightley was in attendance representing Mr Adrian Wood who was also present.  The Chair invited Mr Knightley to speak in support of the review.  Mr Knightley informed members that Mr Wood had been running a successful family business for many years, originally based in a retail unit on the Lower High Street prior to the development of the Brewery and subsequently on the High Street near the Beechwood Arcade and at Church Street, until both of these became unavailable.  He had been trading near Henrietta Street car park since April 2016 and employed four full time and two part time staff, who would become redundant if Mr Wood had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Mr Keith David Lewis

The Licensing Team Leader, Louis Krog, introduced the report regarding the review of Mr Keith David Lewis’ Private Hire Driver’s Licence, PHD116.  Mr Lewis’ licence is due for renewal on 8 December 2019, however he had a number of driving convictions which were set out in the background papers.   The Officer informed members that Mr Lewis had been before the committee twice before and had also failed to inform the Licensing team of his convictions on two occasions.  Mr Lewis now had 12 points on his licence for speeding and had been disqualified in September 2015 for totting up, however Mr Lewis was appealing the disqualification with the hearing due to be heard on 13 January 2017.

The Officer advised the committee to consider whether in the light of these convictions, they felt that Mr Lewis remained a fit and proper person to hold a private hire driver’s licence.  If the committee revoked the licence, they could decide to revoke with immediate effect in the interest of public safety.

The Officer informed the committee that Mr Lewis was to have been represented, but that his lawyer had not been able to attend at the last minute and Mr Lewis had requested a deferment.  The Chair took in to account the letter received from Mr Lewis’ barrister but stated that, in the interests of public safety, the review should be heard at this meeting.

In reply to questions from members, the Officer confirmed that Mr Lewis was still insured to drive and that whatever the outcome was of the Court hearing on Mr Lewis’ disqualification, this did not have any impact on the decision made by the committee as to whether Mr Lewis was fit and proper to hold a licence.  The Officer referred members to 4.5 of the report stating that the pending appeal was not relevant to the committee’s determination of the DVLA penalty points.  Mr Lewis was appealing the disqualification, not the penalty points.  The Officer also reminded members of the requirement that taxi drivers have to declare any convictions to the council and that Mr Lewis had failed to do this on two separate occasions.

A member questioned the length of time that had passed between the conviction in September 2015 resulting in 12 points and the disqualification for totting-up in September 2016.  The Officer did not have this information and the question was directed to Mr Lewis, who replied he had been appealing against the speeding offence and this was the length of time taken by the legal process.  Mr Lewis also confirmed that he had taken the DVSA taxi driving test at this own expense as stipulated by the Licensing Committee when Mr Lewis appeared before them in January 2016.

The Chair invited Mr Lewis to speak and Mr Lewis introduced Mr Victor Witham, the owner of Spa Tax, who accompanied him.   Mr Lewis informed the committee that he didn’t report the points to the council as he was appealing them and also waiting for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Licensing Officer, Phil Cooper, introduced the report regarding an application made by Red Apple Associates Limited for a sexual entertainment venue (SEV) licence at the premises known as the Two Pigs in Church Street, Cheltenham.  The proposed dates and times for providing the entertainment coincided with racing at Cheltenham racecourse on 11 days, these being 2 days at the October meet, 3 days at The Open in November, 2 days at the December meet, with the licence from 8pm to 4 am on these 3 occasions, and for the 4 days at the Festival in March, with the licence from 5pm to 5am.

The Appendices A to D of the report included a copy of the application, plans of the internal layout of the premises and a location map of the premises.  Appendix E showed the central shopping area.  Copies of the Eroticats’ house rules and crime and incident data for the last 12 months relating to the vicinity of the Two Pigs had also been circulated.

The Officer stated that the premises were located within the council’s designated area to be suitable for the consideration of sexual entertainment venue licences, provided that the premises were not in sensitive locations or near properties used for sensitive purposes.  He continued that during the statutory consultation process comments were received from Gloucestershire Constabulary which were set out in the background papers.  These included a number of recommended conditions, one of which was to delay the start time for sexual entertainment during the March Festival to 6pm rather than 5pm.  In addition to these, 58 objections were received from other people, which were also contained in the background papers.  The grounds for objections included the character of relevant locality and the proximity of properties of a sensitive or religious nature.

The Officer advised members that the application must be decided on its own merits and that the only grounds for a refusal of a sexual entertainment licence were set out in 5.4 and 5.5 of the report.  On consideration of all the relevant matters, members needed to decide whether to grant the application as applied for; to grant the application subject to additional terms, conditions or restrictions; or to refuse the application.

A member requested that the statutory legal exemption for sexual entertainment be explained.  The Officer confirmed that since 2010 under new legislation, any licensed premises can provide sexual entertainment up to 11 occasions a year, for up to 24 hours on each occasion and with a calendar month in between each occasion, without a sexual entertainment venue licence or having to inform or get permission from the council.  The Officer confirmed that the Two Pigs had done this in the past on a number of occasions and had always informed the council, although not obliged to, and no complaints had been received.   To further clarify in response to another question, a Temporary Events Notice (TENs) covered the sale of alcohol and provision of relevant entertainment such as the performance  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

None

Wednesday 8 February 2017 at 6pm.

Wednesday 8 February 2017 at 6pm.