To consider Report 98/2011 on an application for a Review of a Premises Licence in respect of Old Brewery, 17 Lower Ellacombe Church Road, Torquay.

Members considered Report 98/2011 on an application for a Review of a Premises Licence in respect of the Old Brewery, 17 Lower Ellacombe Church Road, Torquay.

Written representations received from:

Additional Information:

Prior to the Sub-Committee, the Applicant requested 1 hour to present their application for Review.  The Sub-Committee agreed to this extension of time at the hearing and informed the Respondent and Interested Parties that they too would be entitled to 1 hour when making their oral representation.

Written representations:

Respondent’s response to representations:

With the agreement of all parties present, the Respondent circulated a poster advising patrons to ‘keep the noise down when smoking and using the patio area’.

Decision:

That the Premises Licence be revoked in respect of the Old Brewery, Lower Ellacombe Church Road, Torquay.

Reason for decision:

Having carefully considered all the written and oral Representations and answers to questions put by the Members, they resolved that this decision was proportionate and necessary for the following reasons:

Members were seriously concerned at the impact on the Licensing Objectives and on the complainant and her families’ quality of life by Mr Martin’s continued and apparent unwillingness or inability to manage his Premises. These concerns are reinforced by the evidence provided by Torbay Council’s Senior Environmental Health and Licensing Officers and the Police.

Members are satisfied by the evidence before them that Mr Martin had been given extensive advice and guidance by Officer’s of the Council and the Police in an attempt to assist Mr Martin to manage his Premises in an effective manner to promote the Licensing Objectives, to not carry out regulated entertainment for which his current Premises Licence does not permit and to alleviate the negative impact the running of his Premises is having on the quality of the life of the complainants.

Despite this advice, guidance and enforcement action by the Council, Members were seriously concerned that Mr Martin continued to allow amplified music to be played at his Premises which caused a significant nuisance to the complainants and is other than in accordance with his current Premises Licence. As such Members resolved that they could not be satisfied that Mr Martin would comply with any conditions and lawful activities in the future.

Although Members noted the Petition and the Representations from the Interest Parties in the benefit of having a community pub, which they found to be valid, Members resolved that this benefit should not be to the detriment of those living within the community, as supported by the case of R v Dennis (2003) EWCH 793 (QB), as referred to by Mr Fudge. Members also found merit in the submission by the Police and Mr Fudge that there were other community pubs within Torbay that existed and were not detrimental to nearby residents and that this was down to these Premises being managed effectively.

Members found that the measures taken by Mr Martin in his own admission that he had tried everything to be inadequate and flawed. In particular the keeping of a daily book which did not record evidence of Police visits which Members believed should have been relevant information to record so that he could have acted upon the concerns raised by the Police. In addition, the oral Representation by Mr Martin that he would welcome help from the Responsible Authorities as to what else he could do, did not alleviate their serious concerns as he had not acted upon previous advice or guidance offered by the Responsible Authorities to resolve historical and ongoing issues of concern.

Members noted with great alarm and empathy the audio evidence presented by Mr Fudge which demonstrated the continued impact this Premises is having on the complainant and her family’s quality of life. This was noted in the knowledge of the evidence before them that Mr Martin was made fully aware of the noise nuisance, by Officer’s in person and in writing. An aggravating feature of this evidence was that some of the audio evidence was recorded after the service of the Review Application and the service of an Abatement Notice on the Premises.

In concluding, Members considered all the options available to them to address the issues raised in this Review but found that adding conditions, curtailing what is already a limited Premises Licence,  removing Mr Martin as the Designated Premises Supervisor and/or suspending the Premises Licence for a period of time to allow measures to be put in place to alleviate the concerns of the complainants and Responsible Authorities would in their opinion not be sufficient enough as Mr Martin’s ongoing involvement in the Premises would result in the continuation of the Licensing Objectives being undermined, as evidenced and previously demonstrated.