Councillor Ellery was elected as Chairman for the meeting.

To consider an application for a Premises Licence in respect of Zakopane, 16 Market Street, Torquay.

Members considered a report on an application for a Premises Licencein respect of Zakopane, 16 Market Street, Torquay.  The Premises do fall within the Cumulative Impact Area.

Written Representations received from:

Additional Information:

At the hearing the normal allowance of 10 minutes for oral representations was extended to 13 minutes.

Oral Representations received from:

Decision:

That the application for a Premises Licence in respect of Zakopane, 16 Market Street, Torquay be refused.

Reason for Decision:

Having carefully considered all the written and oral Representations, Members unanimously resolved to refuse the application, having been satisfied on the balance of probabilities and the evidence before them, that to refuse the application was both proportionate and appropriate, in this instance.

In coming to that decision, Members noted that the premises is situated within the Authority’s Cumulative Impact Area, which experiences high levels of crime, disorder and public nuisance and has immediately surrounding it, a Public Space Protection Order area which prohibits the consumption of alcohol in public spaces in the town centre due to the link between alcohol consumption and crime and anti-social behaviour. With this in mind, Members had grave concerns regarding Mr Hassan’s capabilities to operate a premises in such a restrictive area, in a manner which complied with all conditions of a premises licence and ensured the Licensing Objectives would be promoted.

Members concerns in this regard, arose of the evidence before them from Ms Michelle Bishop. Members noted that on the 18^th November 2020 via email, Ms Bishop advised the Police Licensing Officer, Ms Julie Smart that during 2014 both the Police and Fenland District Council Licensing experienced concerns with Mr Hassan re failure to comply with conditions of an action plan set in conjunction with the Responsible Authority Officer Group but did, after additional support was given to him from Officers.

When asked what conditions he was failing to comply with in respect of this evidence, Mr Hassan was unable to answer this question with any clarity and appeared confused in what was being asked of him. That was, until his legal representative sought instructions from Mr Hassan over the telephone whilst both their microphones to the virtual hearing, were muted.  On the unmuting, it was put forward that the concerns were around a refusal book which had run out of pages and a new one was required.  This was then echoed by Mr Hassan himself, with clarity.  Members could not be satisfied that this was an accurate account of those concerns because the evidence of Ms Bishop mentioned conditions in the plural and that it was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.