Agenda and draft minutes

Councillor George Fielding was duly appointed as Chair for the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

The purpose of this report is for the committee to consider an application for the grant of a new premises licence pursuant to section 18 of the Licensing Act 2003 ("the Act").  The matter has been referred to the committee for determination following receipt of relevant representations from a small number of local residents.  Further detail about the representations received is show at paragraph 4.

The Licensing Sub Committee is requested to determine the application.

The Legal Advisor, Ben Attrill ran through the hearing procedures and noted that those residents who had indicated they wished to speak were formally part of the hearing proceedings and they may expand upon their written representations but may not raise anything new or additional that the applicant had not had the opportunity to address in advance of the hearing.

The Licensing Officer's Report.

The Licensing Officer presented the report the purpose of which was for the Committee to consider an application for the grant of a new premises licence pursuant to section 18 of the Licensing Act 2003 ("the Act").  The matter had been submitted by Chloe Wheeler and referred to the committee for determination following receipt of relevant representations from a small number of local residents and the Ward Councillor.

Member's questions for the Licensing Officer

The Panel asked if there had been any concerns expressed by the Local Police or Environmental Health.  The Licensing Officer confirmed there had been no objections from any responsible authority.

Applicant questions for the Licensing Officer

The applicant did not have any questions.

Resident questions for the Licensing Officer

In response to a question, the Licensing Officer advised that Licensing are duty bound to notify ward councillors of applications in their ward but did not know what the ward councillors then do with that information.  He did not consider there was an obligation on their part to pass the information on to residents.

Applicant's Case

The applicant presented her case to the panel. 

The applicant advised she was the owner of the family run business living locally in Southsea.

The applicant stated she understood the majority of the concerns of local residents and advised that when the licence application was made, the premises were empty and she had not yet signed the lease and did not consider it appropriate, at that time, to knock on doors and start discussing plans whilst the premises were not yet legally hers.

She noted concerns included the premises becoming a nightclub or some form of pub and reassured this was not the case.

She further noted the concerns in relation to the new flats being built on Hellyer Road and Oliver Road resulting in a more built-up area.  She understood concerns but stressed this was beyond the scope and control of the application for a premises licence and should not influence the panel's decision.

The Applicant outlined the Hideaway's aims:

·         to be a professional and friendly space offering a relaxed and welcoming environment.

·         to run as a daytime, dog themed café, initially opening 7am to 6pm with a focus on being a family friendly, community space for all.

·         to have adequate room between all tables to ensure there would be space for pushchairs, wheelchairs and comfortable places for customers' dogs to sit.

·         to focus on offering services to bring the community together such as exercise classes, support groups and workshops.

·         Two separate closed rooms would aim to offer a more stable, frequent service that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.