Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 15^th November 2017 were not signed as no members that had attended that meeting were present at this meeting to confirm they were a true record.

There were no apologies for absence. 

There were no declarations of interest

The sub-committee were required to consider an application to vary a premises licence for the following premises:

Carluccio’s

196 High Street
Berkhamsted

The Chairman introduced herself, the members on the sub-committee and the officers present, and asked the applicants and those persons present that had made representations to introduce themselves.  At this point Mr T Ritchie explained that he had made his representation in his capacity as a ward councillor, but was no longer in that role.  He explained that he had discussed his attendance with the Licensing Team given the situation, but had received confirmation that he could still attend and speak.

The Chairman asked the members of the sub-committee to confirm that they had read the agenda, and this confirmation was given.

Members were asked if they had any interests to declare in respect of this premises.  No interests were declared.

The Chairman asked N March if the legal requirements had been complied with and this was confirmed.

The Chairman then invited N March to introduce the application.

N March initially clarified that, to avoid any confusion, whilst the report referred to the premises as Carluccio’s this was purely the address of the premises as it appeared on the licence which had recently been transferred to Copper House Bars Ltd (the applicant for the variation). The premises was 196 High St Berkhamsted.

N March then set out the variation applied for as follows:

The addition of live and recorded music indoors, between 08:00 and 01:00 Thursday to Saturday (i.e. early hours of Sunday morning);

Late night refreshment to be extended by an hour indoors and outdoors Thursday to Saturday. The addition would take this licensable activity to 01:00.

Finally to extend the sale of alcohol by an extra hour until 01:00 Thursday to Saturday.

N March explained that when a variation was applied for to an existing licence, only the variation itself could be considered. Therefore the Committee was being asked to consider the impact of the addition of indoor music and the extended hours for alcohol and late night refreshment and would be unable to consider any restrictions in regards to any of the existing licensable activities.

Two representations had been received during the consultation, one from Berkhamsted Town Council and one from an individual who had been a Ward Councillor at the time of the application and had made representation in that capacity. These were set out on pages 31 and 33 of the main report respectively.  Both objections referred to similar concerns.  The sub-committee should note that concerns relating to the outdoor furniture on Market days, or the addition of conditions in this regard could not be considered, as these fell within the hours of the existing licence provision.  The other concerns raised related to potential nuisance caused by late night drinking and live music, and the possibility of disruption to the neighbouring properties.

The fact that the area is currently a ‘no drinking zone’ was also referred to in the objection, and, though this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.