Agenda and minutes

To elect a chair for this hearing.

A motion moved and seconded, to elect Councillor Ben Manning as chair of the panel was carried on being put to the vote.

RESOLVED: that Councillor Ben Manning be elected as chair of the panel.

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests, other registerable interests and non-registerable interests or any conflicts of interest in respect of items on the agenda for this meeting.  

There were no declarations of interest.

To note the procedure for the meeting (attached).

The chair confirmed that all parties present understood the procedure.

To consider the report of the Head of Legal and Democratic.

The panel considered the application for a variation of the premises License for The Wheatsheaf, Wantage Road, Didcot, and the chair invited the licensing officer to present their report.

Licensing officer

The licencing officer informed the panel that the application was for the variation of the premises licence for the addition of regulated entertainment, including indoor live music from 11.00 to midnight Fridays and Saturdays, and recorded music from 11.00 to 00.30 Fridays and Saturdays. She also sought clarity from the applicant about when live music would be played till as there were two figures provided in the application forms.

The Wheatsheaf was licenced for the sale of alcohol from Monday to Wednesday from 11.00 to midnight, Thursdays from 11.00 until 00.30, Friday and Saturday from 11.00 to 01.00, and on Sundays from midday to 23.30.

The licensing officer also noted that during the consultation period the application had received four representations, presented in the report attached to the agenda for the meeting. She also confirmed to the panel that the application was advertised in accordance with all the necessary regulations.

No members of the panel, or the applicant and objector, had questions for the licensing officer.

The applicant

Piers Warne speaking on behalf of the applicant, and Michael Fowler the Designated Premises Supervisor (“DPS”) for The Wheatsheaf, then presented their case to the licensing panel. Some of the key information they highlighted was that the variation was for the addition of live and recorded music. Mr Warne also clarified that their application was for live music until midnight Friday and Saturdays and for recorded music until 00.30. He also emphasised that the variation was not for an extension of the hours the premises could operate.

The applicant’s solicitor also informed the panel that they were looking to amend the variation sought in relation to the use of the outside area. Currently, the area is used in accordance with the existing premises licence until midnight, and the applicant had requested an exemption for smokers but with a written notice placed in the smoking shelters requesting them to please respect the neighbours. The solicitor confirmed that they were now proposing a revised condition which was that the outside areas should  not be used by customers between 00:00 hours and 08:00 hours except for the purpose of smoking- and, that no glasses would be allowed outside at this time.

In addition to this, Mr Warne confirmed they had proposed six new conditions, circulated to members, objectors and officers prior to the meeting, which were designed to address the concerns of neighbours. In summary the applicant’s proposed conditions were for regular entertainment checks, for the doors and windows to be closed during regulated entertainment, a garden management policy, a dispersal policy, a complaints log, and the provision of a phone number for residents to enable them to complain if required. While these proposed conditions were confirmed to be largely in accordance with those proposed by the Council’s environmental protection officer, they did  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.