(a)

considered the report from the Director for Public Health;

(b)

heard from the applicant that:

·          

they have been running a dance company for the last 16 years - mainly Latin dance. Up until 3 years ago they used to rent various premises to conduct their lessons however it was decided to buy their own premises as this would be more cost efficient;

·          

three years ago they bought the premises. They operate dance lessons every night between 6pm and 10pm and rent the premises out at the weekend for private parties;

·          

up until now they have been doing this by way of Temporary Event Notices, people would bring their own alcohol and DJs. The applicant believes this is what caused some of the problems complained about as people were bringing in their own cheap alcohol and therefore drinking more than they would if they had to pay for it at the bar. The DJ's they were bringing along caused problems as they were loud and when they had singers, this also caused problems. This is why they will not have live music and now have a noise limiter;

·          

the only reason they want the licence is for these private parties on a Friday and Saturday (and rarely on a Sunday) as they feel it will give them more control over the noise levels and the amount of alcohol that people consume;

·          

they do have their own Latin dance parties once a month, but they don't sell alcohol and don't have a bar. The only reason for the alcohol licence is for the weekend private parties;

·          

in the last 2 years they have had 69 parties including their own monthly Latin dance parties;

·          

there have been no problems reported to the Police;

·          

with regards to the complaints there have been no complaints about the dance class music. This music is not loud as the instructor is also giving instruction and there is certainly no heavy bass;

·          

during the first private party they ever they had complaints and so they immediately ensured the music was turned down straight away. They have always tried to keep the music level down and one bad review on their website sited that the music was too quiet;

·          

they have carried out sound proofing works to the premises to stop any noise egress. This is mainly works to the roof and there are further works to be done;

·          

they have taken sound recordings both at the back, front of his premises and then at the front of the nearest residential property. The recordings were 60dB, 50dB and 40dB respectively. At the front of the residential property as soon as a car went past the dB level rose to 60. They now have a noise limiter. They have set the levels themselves having researched the subject. They had asked Environmental Health what the appropriate level to set it at was but they had advised that there was no set dB level;

·          

they will work with residents to keep the noise down to make sure they are not causing any issues. However with regards to the complaint that there was music noise at around 11pm on a Monday, they said this could not have been coming from their premises as the classes end at 10pm and they are not there at 11pm. They said that they sometimes noticed music noise in the area when they close up and so the source of the problem must be elsewhere;

·          

the only complaints they have received recently was a couple of days after they had applied for the licence;

·          

with regards to noise from people leaving the premises, they said that at the end of the parties staff members go out and tell people to keep the noise down. The premises has a large car park and all patrons use it so there should not be any noise created on the street from slamming of car doors etc;

·          

the premises is restricted to holding 150 people. The only time they have got near that mark was last Friday when they had 140 people;

·          

they don’t do coming of age parties (i.e. 18 or 21);

·          

security - They don't use SIA doorman and security is just the applicant and his son. Sometimes members of the dance classes come along to help as well but if there are only 50 people there it will only be him and his son present;

·          

there is no smoking allowed on site and so customers must go onto the road but no drinks are allowed to be taken into the outside area. They provide bins and also sweep up the area after the party has finished;

·          

they only use poly carbonate glassware;

·          

save for the most recent complaint, all others were received in 2017 when they had the first few parties. The licensing officer confirmed that the Council had received one complaint when the application came in and that Environmental Health had not received any complaints since 2016;

·          

there are no houses next to the premises, the houses nearest to them are in Holland Road and that is where all complaints have emanated from;

·          

they do not want off sales on the licence and do not play music outside and so do not want that on the licence either. In addition they would like the premises to close to the public at 11.30pm. All weekday classes finish at 10pm;

·          

it was confirmed, in response to a question that nothing would be changing from Monday - Thursday and they would continue to operate as they had always done. Therefore they did not really need the music licence unless Christmas Eve fell on a weekday;

(c)

considered the written representations of local residents, none of whom attended the hearing, as follows:

o    

Noise levels will be worse. Residents have experienced problems with music from the venue. For example, the loud thud of music disturbing sleep. A young child was recently kept awake until very late as a result of the music. 

This was considered to be relevant under the prevention of public nuisance licensing objective.

The committee noted that in one of the representations, mention had been made of noise coming from the premises at 2258 hours on a Monday evening. The committee accepted that the applicant's classes finish at 10pm on a Monday and the noise was not coming from their premises.  It also noted that the applicant was not changing any of its activities between Monday - Thursday and did not require to be licensed for music on those days. With regards to noise problems being caused by the granting of the alcohol and music licence from Friday - Sunday, the committee considered that the use of a sound limiter on the premises, as detailed in the conditions put forward by the applicant, would be more effective if the additional condition below were added to the licence as it would help the applicant properly control noise levels. With this modification and the condition agreed with Environmental Health, it was satisfied that the licensing objective was properly promoted and that there would be no noise problems for local residents.

 Condition

•           The sound limiter must be set at an appropriate level in consultation with Environmental Health

o    

As visitors to the venue park in the street, there will be disturbance from car doors banging and inebriated people talking/shouting when leaving.

This was considered to be relevant under the prevention of public nuisance licensing objective.

The committee noted that the premises had a large car park to use and the evidence from the applicant was that patrons used this car park rather than parking on the street.  Therefore the committee did not consider that any further conditions were necessary to promote the licensing objective in this regard.

o    

Granting the alcohol licence may increase alcohol related disorder in the area. The area is currently quiet but the licence will increase the number of people passing through.

This was considered to be relevant under the crime prevention licensing objective.

The committee noted that the premises has a capacity of 150 people and whilst there were concerns as to how patrons were to be controlled it was noted that licence was for private parties only. The premises had been operating in this way for three years and there had been no representations from the police on this point, therefore no further action was needed to promote the licensing objective.

o    

Recorded music (Indoors only)

Friday - Sunday and Christmas Eve (where it falls on a weekday) - 12.00 noon until 11.30pm

Non Standard timings: New Year’s Eve until 12.30am

o    

Supply of alcohol for consumption ON the premises

Friday to Sunday, Bank Holidays and Christmas Eve (where it falls on a weekday) - 2pm until 11.30pm

Non-standard Timings - New Year's Eve until 12.30am

o    

Hours premises are open to the public

Friday to Sunday, Bank Holidays and Christmas Eve (where it falls on a weekday) -  9am - 11.30pm

Non-standard Timings - New Year's Eve until 12.30pm

o    

conditions contained within the applicant's operating schedule;

o    

conditions agreed with the Police and Environmental Health (appendices 3 and 4 in the report);

o    

Following condition:

The sound limiter must be set at an appropriate level in consultation with Environmental Health