(i)

considered the report from the Director for Community Services;

(ii)

heard from Devon and Cornwall Police that the premises lie within the Council’s cumulative impact zone and that due to the concerns listed beneath the relevant licensing objectives below, the application should be refused as to grant the licence would add to existing problems in the area;

(iii)

heard from the applicant that:

• he wanted this variation for the benefit of the local community who found that drinks in the nightclubs were too expensive;
• he had had no problems with violence within his premises in the evening;
• he was prepared to have 4/5 staff on duty or employ door supervisors;
• he was prepared to amend his application so that the premises closed at 01.00hrs instead;
• although he had the option of using a night counter he did not want to use this as it would prevent him assessing whether the person was of the right age and whether they had been drinking;
• he was prepared to only sell cans and plastic bottles of alcohol;

(vi)

considered representations from the Police under the licensing objectives as follows:

a)

Prevention of Public Nuisance –

due to alcohol being sold until 02.00 an increase in the number of persons loitering late at night could occur in the vicinity. These people were likely to have already been drinking, may have been ejected from entry to nearby licensed premises and were therefore likely to impact on levels of disorder in the area. This was considered to be relevant and the committee considered whether any of the matters offered by the applicant would address these concerns.  They did not consider that any conditions could be put on the licence to address this. Also they did not consider that reducing the hours of operation would address the concerns outlined by the Police.

b)

Prevention of Crime and Disorder –

if alcohol was sold until 02.00 there was likely to be an increase in alcohol related violent crime, criminal damage and street drinkers and associated offences.  This was because people who attended the premises were likely to have been drinking already, may have been ejected from nearby licensed premises, were likely to consume their purchase in the vicinity of the premises in public places and would be in possession of bottles and cans in public areas, both open and unopened which increased the potential for their use as weapons in violent crime.

The figures presented by the police in support of this assertion were as follows:

• out of 7362 crimes committed within the Union Street area 3104 were committed within a 500 metre radius of the premises;
• out of 1261 violent crimes committed within 500 metres of the premises 281 were committed within 100 metres of the premises, 301 within 100-200metres of the premise showing a high number of violent crime in a close proximity to the premises;
• there were 202 offences involving criminal damage within 500 metres of the premises;  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.