Agenda and minutes

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting

There were no minutes to be signed at this meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence

There were no apologies for absence. 

To receive any declarations of interest

There were no declarations of interests.

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

The Old Mill

London Road

Berkhamsted

Hertfordshire

HP4 2NB

The Chairman asked if all legal requirements had been complied with and N March confirmed they had.

The Chairman asked N March to introduce the report.

N March advised that the application was to vary the licence of the Old Mill in Berkhamsted.

The application seeks:

• Authorisation to vary the layout of the premises to include the licensing of two car parks at the premises to permit the sale of alcohol with this being conditioned in that area until 22:00.
• The removal of certain conditions on the licence, and the addition of others. No changes to the hours or licensable activities are applied for.

During the consultation period one of the proposed conditions was checked with the applicant’s agent as it appeared to contain an error, this condition is shown in section 4.7 of the report. The applicant has advised that the mention of ‘maximum’ in this condition is an error, and in fact this should say ‘minimum’. As the applicant has confirmed that the conditions should say minimum this should be reflected in the condition should the Committee grant the licence with that condition as proposed by the applicant.

With regards to the proposed conditions, it is noted that the proposal in the application is to remove a condition that places a requirement on the licensee during any entertainment, with one that would only have effect when regulated entertainment is taking place, given deregulation having a significant impact on when entertainment is regulated, the proposed condition is considered to be much narrower than the existing condition that has been applied to be removed. Section 4.7 of the report covers this also.

During the consultation, there were 8 representations received, all from residents. No representations were received from the responsible authorities.

The full content of the objections is included as annex D.

In summary, the key issues raised are as described in section 4 of the report (starting page 9):

• The area that is covered by the licence has been applied to be extended. As a result of deregulation this will also mean that both live and recorded music will be permitted, whereas at the moment only live music can take place as a result of the car park being part of a workplace.
• Objectors are concerned about entertainment being permitted. The committee cannot attach conditions that relate to directly entertainment as this is not relevant to the application, however, conditions relating to the management of the premises as amended by the variation which will assist in the prevention of public nuisance, can be considered if these are felt to be appropriate
• The risks posed by the premises being next to a waterway are raised as a concern and are considered relevant, but at the same time a balance of personal responsibility compared to that of the licensee should be considered, and it is  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.