The Director of Public Health will submit a report regarding an application to vary a premises licence for PL4 Café, 8 Drake Circus, Plymouth.

The committee:

1.    Considered the report from the Director of Public Health

2.    Heard from the applicant that :

·         The application had been made mainly to extend the hours that late night refreshment was provided. The premises wished to provide food and soft drinks between 1am and 7am.

·         The additional hour for the sale of alcohol had been made as a result of a meeting with the Police and Environmental Health who had said they would not object to such an extension

With regard to the representations that had been made, the applicant:

·         Did not consider that there would be an increase in customers to the area as the premises had operated there before. As a result he did not consider that there would be any increase in anti-social behaviour or noise.

·         Did not consider that there would be an increase in litter as this was not a take away establishment and there was also a large council litter bin directly opposite the premises. With regards to their trade waste there was a contract in place to deal with this.

·         There would be no change to delivery times which would continue to take place during daytime hours with there being no deliveries between 1am and 5am.

·         There was no intention to extend the premises and if they wished to do this they would need a new licence.

·         The kitchen had been refurbished and inspected so would be able to cope with demand

·         During the meeting with Police Licensing they had confirmed that due to their small capacity, door staff would not be required. If there were any unforeseen problems they had the ability to call City Security who worked for PL4 bar next door.

·         The service of food and alcohol would be by table service only and not takeaway

·         He considered that the additional provision of late night refreshment would assist in reducing the levels of crime and disorder and nuisance in the area as a cool down area as it would stop people wandering around the streets and the food would help soak up any alcohol.

·         The premises would serve all sort of food and whilst the Bar is in the café and customers would not be required to order food, alcohol could only be consumed whilst seated at tables and opened containers would not be permitted to be removed from the premises or brought into them.

·         The Car Park is private and so there would be no members of public parking there. There is no exit from here onto Drakes Circus but only onto Tavistock Place. The main entrance to the premises was from Drakes Circus.

·         Appendix 2 of the report sets out the conditions that will apply

3.    Were advised that correspondence sent to three of the residents who had made objections had been returned ‘not known at this address’. However without further information committee still took these representations into consideration in reaching their decision. The following written representations were received:

Prevention of Public Nuisance

• Disruption was already caused by students and young adults in the area and this would become worse with another venue to add to this. Existing problems in relation to noise from drunken revellers would worsen. This was considered to be relevant under this licensing objective however in effect the application was to add one extra hour for the sale of alcohol and the addition of food provision should help to reduce existing problems.

• There was a risk of an increase in the litter problems that already exist in the area. This was considered to be relevant under this licensing objective however members had been advised that the premises was not going to operate as a takeaway and so there should be no litter associated with these premises.

• Deliveries may logistically cause a nuisance in the area in addition to adding to parking problems. This was not considered to be relevant as there would be no change to delivery times as a result of this application.

Prevention of Crime and Disorder

• The venue will cause and increase damage from intoxicated adults and cause an increase in crime levels generally.  This was considered to be relevant under this licensing objective however in effect the application was to add one extra hour for the sale of alcohol and the addition of food provision should help to reduce existing problems.

• Due to an entry and exit point into a car park on Drakes Circus, damage was likely to be caused to parked cars. The entry and exit point were not in a suitable location. This was considered to be relevant under this licensing objective however the car park is private so no members of the public will be parked there and the car park referred to is actually on Tavistock Place. The main entry and exit point is on Drakes Circus. Members did not consider that the granting of the licence will cause the problems mentioned in the representation.

• One resident said that they found it a very daunting experience walking home at night at present and that the addition of this licence would make them feel even more hesitant. This was considered to be relevant under the above licensing objective however the committee did not consider that there would be any added footfall to the area and members believed that as this is a food led outlet it may help to alleviate problems in the area.

• There were concerns that the plan was to extend the premises into an existing one thus making it a large venue which would significantly impact on customer flow. This was not considered to be relevant under any of the licensing objectives.

The committee in reaching its decision took account of all the relevant representations, all that was said by the applicant, statutory guidance and their own licensing policy. In respect of their own licencing policy the committee noted that representations had been received which bought the cumulative impact policy into effect. However the committee agreed that as a result of what they had heard from the applicant and all that was contained in his operating schedule that there would be no negative cumulative impact on the licensing objectives and that therefore the licence would be granted as detailed in the report subject to the conditions put forward in the applicant’s operating schedule and mandatory conditions contained in the Licensing Act 2003.