Agenda item

The applicant was in attendance along with his legal advisor, Duncan Craig, and an interpreter.  The Licensing Officer raised a concern that the applicant had been accompanied by an interpreter, as the usual procedure was for the Council to appoint an independent Interpreter.  The applicant agreed that his knowledge of the English language was sufficient to not use his interpreter.

The Licensing Officer outlined the background to the application as follows:

·         the application was to serve fast food between 21.30-5.30 and if the committee were minded to grant the application a premises licence issued under the Licensing Act 2003 would be needed to sell hot food and hot drinks between 2300 and 0500. 

·         the Police had raised concerns about the application.

In response to questioning from Members, it was confirmed that the location was outside the Cumulative Impact Area (CIA) and so this was not directly relevant to the application.

The Applicant’s representative made the following points:

·         the police objection had referred to the CIA and although the location was close to the zone, it was not inside the CIA;

·         the van would not obstruct the 1.2m of footway required by the Highways Authority;

·         the client was aware that he was required to have a premises licence after 23.00 and this would be subject to a further application;

·         the client had 15 years’ experience of working as a manager in a street trading food outlet for 15 years, had lived in the UK since 2001 and was of good character.

In response to a question of clarification about the type of van, it was clarified that consultation had taken place on the van detailed in the report and the applicant confirmed that he would be running the trading unit.

At this point in the meeting, the Applicant and his representatives and the Licensing Officers withdrew while the Committee considered the application.  Following the Committee deliberations, the Licensing Officers, Applicant and his representatives returned to hear the decision.

RESOLVED that the application be granted for the following reasons:

·         The Committee had no issues with the suitability of the Applicant or the trading unit;

·         The Committee had initial concerns about the location of the trading unit because it would be situated very close to a large nightclub, however, these were allayed as it would not be located in a cumulative impact area nor in a densely populated residential area;

·         The Committee noted that no objections had been received from Pollution Control or any of the other consultees;

·         The Applicant was aware that he would also need to apply for a Premises Licence under the Licensing Act 2003 in respect of which the Police could make further representations and the Committee believed that this was the more appropriate forum to look at issues such as the potential for Crime and Disorder, public nuisance and the like.

·         The Committee considered there was a commercial need for the unit at this location and was therefore prepared to grant the application. 

·         The Committee also noted that the Applicant had over 15 years’ experience of working in the late night catering trade and that he would be working from and managing the unit himself.  If however, the problems did arise as a result of a trading unit at this location, the consent could either be revoked or not renewed.