Part I Item No: 3 WELWYN HATFIELD COUNCIL LICENSING SUB COMMITTEE REPORT OF THE LICENSING OFFICER Northaw Ward REPORT TO LICENSING SUB COMMITTEE APPLICATION FOR A PREMISES LICENCE FOR OLD OWENS SPORTS CLUB, COOPERS LANE,NORTHAW, POTTERS BAR, HERTS, EN64NE 1 Summary of the Application Premises Licence Holder(s) John Mark Clark Address of Premises Coopers Lane, Northaw, Herts EN6 4NE This committee report contains an application for a premises licence for Old Owens Sports Club. This club currently holds a club premises certificate which was converted in August 2005 when the Licensing Act 2003 first came into force. The Club Premises Certificate was then varied in May 2011 and a copy of this licence and premises plan is shown in appendix A. The premises licence application is contained in Appendix B to this report Appendix C contains a map of the locality; the black dots indicate the premises and the address of the residents making representation. Summary of Variation Received An application has been received from the Applicant under the Licensing Act 2003 for a premises licence seven days a week with alcohol and entertainment until 02.00 at weekends and 03.00 New Years Eve. The application also includes films, indoor sporting events, live and recorded music, performances of dance and late night refreshment. Current hours under the Club Premises Certificate are for Live Music, Recorded Music, Performance of dance, and sale of alcohol. Schedule of Hours at Appendix D. Old Owens Sports Club constitution currently allow former pupils of Dame Alice Owen s School Potters Bar, Dame Alice Owen s Girl s School Islington, Dame Alice Owen s School Islington, persons who are or have been employees and governors of the schools, associate members and their guests or guests of the club collectively to use the club facilities. A qualifying club may choose to apply for a premises licence if it decides that it wishes to offer its facilities commercially - 1 -
for use by the general public, including the sale of alcohol to them. There are greater powers of entry for the Police and the Licensing Authority when a premises licence is in effect see Section 179 Licensing Act 2003. Unresolved representations There are ten representations from residents concerned about anti social behaviour and noise from persons who are on their way home from an evening out and potential underage drinking. The representations are at appendix E. Resolved representations The representations have not been successfully mediated prior to this hearing. No observations have been received from responsible authorities regarding this application. 2 Background The application submitted is for a premises licence which if granted will replace the current club premises certificate to enable persons other than members and guests to use the facilities. However the premises could keep the Club Premises Certificate in addition to or instead of the Premises licence if they so wished. A premises licence allows for stricter controls by the Licensing Authority and the Police. The Club premises certificate was originally issued in 2005 and varied in May 2011 to extend the opening times to the current hours. There were no representations received at the time of the variation. As far as I am aware there have been no complaints against the premises. The police have not visited the club as there are very limited powers of entry to a club with a club premise certificate. However statements taken following an incident did not produce any evidence of underage sales. However patrons may have obtained alcohol from elsewhere or have drunk prior to attending the premise. The premises currently have a set of conditions on the licence. Appendix A. 3 Explanation 3.1 The committee is obliged to determine this application for a premises licence for Old Owens Sports Club. 3.2 In determining the application the sub committee must take account of the councils duty to promote the statutory licensing objectives namely: A) The prevention of Crime and Disorder B) Public Safety C) The Prevention of Public Nuisance D) The Protection of children from harm. In making its decision, the committee is also obliged to have regard to the National Guidance and the Councils own Licensing Policy (Previously circulated). - 2 -
4 Licensing Policy 4.1 The sub committee will also wish to be aware of the Guidance issued under section 182 of the licensing Act 2003. Guidance 6.4 Only qualifying clubs may hold club premises certificates. In order to be a qualifying club, a club must have at least 25 members and meet the conditions set out below. The grant of a club premises certificate means that a qualifying club is entitled to certain benefits. These include: the authority to supply alcohol to members and sell it to guests on the premises to which the certificate relates without the need for any member or employee to hold a personal licence; the authority to provide late night refreshment to members of the club without requiring additional authorisation; more limited rights of entry for the police and authorised persons because the premises are considered private and not generally open to the public; exemption from police powers of instant closure on grounds of disorder and noise nuisance (except when being used under the authority of a temporary event notice or premises licence) because they operate under their codes of discipline and rules; and exemption from orders of the magistrates court for the closure of all licensed premises in an area when disorder is happening or expected. Guidance 6.5 Qualifying clubs should not be confused with proprietary clubs, which are clubs run commercially by individuals, partnerships or businesses for profit. These require a premises licence and are not qualifying clubs. Guidance 6.6 A qualifying club will be permitted under the terms of a club premises certificate to sell and supply alcohol to its members and their guests only. Instant membership is not permitted and members must wait at least two days between their application and their admission to the club. A qualifying club may choose to apply for a premises licence if it decides that it wishes to offer its facilities commercially for use by the general public, including the sale of alcohol to them. However, an individual on behalf of a club may give temporary event notices. See Chapter 7. Guidance 6.7 The 2003 Act does not prevent visitors to a qualifying club being supplied with alcohol as long as they are guests of any member of the club or the club collectively, and nothing in the 2003 Act prevents the admission of such people as guests without prior notice. The 2003 Act does not define guest and whether or not somebody is a genuine guest would in all cases be a question of fact. - 3 -
Guidance 6.8 There is no mandatory requirement under the 2003 Act for guests to be signed in by a member of the club. However, a point may be reached where a club is providing commercial services to the general public in a way that is contrary to its qualifying club status. It is at this point that the club would no longer be conducted in good faith and would no longer meet general condition 3 for qualifying clubs in section 62 of the 2003 Act. Under the 2003 Act, the licensing authority must decide when a club has ceased to operate in good faith and give the club a notice withdrawing the club premises certificate. The club is entitled to appeal against such a decision to a magistrates court. Unless the appeal is successful, the club would need to apply for a premises licence to authorise licensable activities taking place there. Guidance 9.38 Licensing authorities are best placed to determine what actions are appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives in their areas. All licensing determinations should be considered on a case-by-case basis. They should take into account any representations or objections that have been received from responsible authorities or other persons, and representations made by the applicant or premises user as the case may be. Guidance 9.39 The authority s determination should be evidence-based, justified as being appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives and proportionate to what it is intended to achieve. Guidance 9.40 Determination of whether an action or step is appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives requires an assessment of what action or step would be suitable to achieve that end. Whilst this does not therefore require a licensing authority to decide that no lesser step will achieve the aim, the authority should aim to consider the potential burden that the condition would impose on the premises licence holder (such as the financial burden due to restrictions on licensable activities) as well as the potential benefit in terms of the promotion of the licensing objectives. However, it is imperative that the authority ensures that the factors which form the basis of its determination are limited to consideration of the promotion of the objectives and nothing outside those parameters. As with the consideration of licence variations, the licensing authority should consider wider issues such as other conditions already in place to mitigate potential negative impact on the promotion of the licensing objectives and the track record of the business. Further advice on determining what is appropriate when imposing conditions on a licence or certificate is provided in Chapter 10. The licensing authority is expected to come to its determination based on an assessment of the evidence on both the risks and benefits either for or against making the determination. Guidance 10.11 The Government acknowledges that different licensing strategies may be appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives in different areas. The 2003 Act gives the licensing authority power to make decisions regarding licensed opening hours as part of the implementation of its licensing policy - 4 -
statement and licensing authorities are best placed to make decisions about appropriate opening hours in their areas based on their local knowledge and in consultation with responsible authorities. However, licensing authorities must always consider each application and must not impose predetermined licensed opening hours, without giving individual consideration to the merits of each application. Guidance 10.12 Where there are objections to an application to extend the hours during which licensable activities are to be carried on and the licensing authority determines that this would undermine the licensing objectives, it may reject the application or grant it with appropriate conditions and/or different hours from those requested. 4.2 The sub committee will also wish to be aware of Welwyn Hatfield Council Statement of Licensing Policy, which includes Licensing Hours Where relevant representations are made, the Council will consider the proposed hours on their individual merits. Notwithstanding this, the Council may require stricter conditions in areas that have denser residential accommodation to prevent public nuisance. The Council will endeavour to work with all parties concerned in such instances to ensure that adequate conditions are in place. The Council has made the following policy decisions relating to Licensing hours: Policy decision: 1 The Council will not apply the principle of zoning; that is to say the setting of fixed trading hours in designated areas. Explanation For preventing nuisance the Council recognises that greater flexibility towards Licensing hours is important and that fixed and artificially early closing times in certain areas can result in peaks of disorder and disturbance on the streets when large numbers of customers simultaneously leave licensed premises. Furthermore, this can result in friction at late night food outlets, taxi ranks and other sources of transport, again causing disturbance. It is recognised by the Council that zoning may lead to the significant movement of people across boundaries in search of premises open later and puts greater pressure on town centres than is necessary, resulting in greater disturbance in the streets at particular times and concentrations of disturbance and noise. Arbitrary restrictions which would undermine the principle of flexibility should be avoided. However the licensing objectives remain the paramount consideration with no general presumption in favour of lengthening licensing hours. 5 Recommendation 5.1 The committee must have regard to the application made and the evidence it hears. The sub-committee is therefore asked to determine the application. - 5 -
5.2 In determining the application, the sub-committee may on behalf of the licensing authority, and having regard to the promotion of the licensing objectives, statute, guidance and policy decide on the following courses of action: 7 Appendices a) To grant the licence as proposed. b) To modify the conditions of the licence by altering or omitting or adding to them (and for this purpose the conditions of the licence are modified if any of them is altered or omitted or any new condition is added). c) To exclude from the scope of the licence any of the licensable activities to which the application relates. d) To refuse to specify a person in the licence as the premises supervisor. e) To reject the whole of the application or part of it. a. Premises licence b. Premises Licence Application, c. Cartology map of locality showing representation received d. Schedule of times and activities e. Representations received. Kate Payne, Licensing Team Leader Date 12th February 2014-6 -