Agenda and minutes

Councillor Willingham was elected as Chair.

Councillor McCloskey and Wilkinson

Apologies were received from Councillor McCloskey and Wilkinson.

There were no declarations of interest.

All Members present declared they had undertaken a site visit either in January 2017 at the time of the first application or during the past week.

Two Pigs, Church Street, Cheltenham GL50 3HA.

The Licensing Officer, Phil Cooper, introduced the report regarding an application made by Red Apple Associates Limited for a renewal of a sexual entertainment venue (SEV) licence at the premises known as the Two Pigs in Church Street, Cheltenham. He explained that the existing SEV licence will expire on 11 January 2018 and this renewal, if successful, would take effect for 12 months from 12 January 2018. The proposed dates and times for providing the entertainment were outlined in paragraph 1.4 of the report and coincided with the dates of some of the meetings at Cheltenham racecourse, namely:

• New Year’s Day
• Festival Trials Day 27 January 2018
• The Festival 13-16 March 2018
• The April meeting 18-19 April 2018
• Hunter Chase Evening 4 May 2018
• New Year’s Day 2019

 with the licence from 8pm to 5am (with the exception of the festival meeting which proposed a licence from 6pm to 5am)

The Licensing 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 no comments had been received from Gloucestershire Constabulary but there had been one objection from Cheltenham Borough Councillor Flo Clucas as outlined in paragraph 4.6 of the report. The grounds for objections were based on inappropriate location.

The Licensing 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.

In reply to questions from Members, the Licensing Officer replied as follows:-

• The policy with regard to the licensing of Sexual Entertainment Venues was due to be reviewed by the end of the year.
• the The application was for the dates listed and did not include October or November 2018. Members should therefore consider the application containing the dates as submitted. The applicant would at a later date be entitled to apply to vary the application to include other dates.
• The Licensing Officer was asked to outline any incidents that had taken place on the premises since the current licence was granted. He explained that there had been 4 reports to the Police alleging pickpocketing or theft of personal items by customers, 2 reports from the management of theft from the premises, 1 report of an assault on a person by doorstaff but once investigated it was determined that proportionate force was used and the person was not assaulted,1 report of a financial dispute between management and a performer,1 report of money being stolen but on further investigation there was no evidence of theft,1 report of prostitution but upon further investigation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.