Agenda and minutes

To select a Member to act as Chair of the meeting.

That Councillor Tim Grogan be elected as Chair for the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence.

All Members are invited to declare at this point any interests they have in items appearing on this agenda, including the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

The attached procedure was noted.

The Sub-Committee considered the report of the Corporate Director in respect of an application to vary a premises licence for The Duke of York, 124 Church Street, Whitby, YO22 4DE. In addition to the report, the sub-committee had sight of the application, the existing premises licence, the representations, the additional information  supplied by Poppleston Allen including the external area management plan, photos of the blue notices advertising the application and outside of the premises, copy of the heads of terms of the license agreement with the council estates department, the paperwork from Noreen Wilson who we were informed was unavailable to attend on the day.

In respect of the Applicant and their representatives, the meeting was attended by Andrew Stonehouse, Jarvis Mcaughey, and Suraj Desor. The meeting was also attended by Louise Anderson and John Nock.

The Licensing Officer presented the report and summarised the representation to the panel. After which, the Chair checked with all attendees that they had received the additional information circulated.

The Chair addressed concerns regarding the validity of the advertisement of the application as it was suggested the notice was not visible during the consultation due to obstructions, in addition to being displayed behind a window pane. The Licencing Enforcement Officer advised that as they had advertised through the local newspaper and council website for the required time, they had therefore complied with legislation. Members were shown pictures of the notices in context of their placement, following which, the meeting was adjourned to discuss the matter privately. Upon resuming the meeting, the Chair announced that the panel was satisfied Officers had complied with legislation.

Following this, the Chair inquired into how many floors the premises had; whether staff could move between these floors; if it was accessible to the public; and if the basement area was to be operated by one or more personal license holding staff members. Mr Desor confirmed there were three floors; that staff could move between floors using an access way not open to the public; and that while the basement would have a minimum of one staff member, it had not been considered if they would be a personal license holder.

The Chair invited the applicants to speak. Mr Desor made the following points:

-        There was no evidence that there was drunk and disorderly behaviour that originated from the premises, and have had no incidents involving the police.

-        The Duke of York, and premises of the same operator, had traded without issue.

-        Parties such as hen and stag-do’s would not use the Duke of York as the premise closes at 10pm.

-        The Duke of York has a robust management plan which would address concerns such as delimiting the area with barriers and introduce controls to an area that was already open to public use.

-        The applicant was aware that the licence can be revoked by the council.

In response to concerns regarding public urination due to the external area’s proximity to the sea, side alleys,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.