Agenda and minutes

            An apology was reported on behalf of Councillor Hutchinson.

            The minutes of the meeting of 12th November were taken as read and signed as correct.  It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 1st December, subject to the omission of those matters in respect of which the Council had delegated its powers to the Committee.

            No declarations of interest were reported.

            The Committee approved the following schedule of meetings for the Licensing Committee during 2016, commencing at 5.00 p.m:

             Wednesday, 20th January;

             Wednesday, 17th February;

             Wednesday, 16th March;

             Wednesday, 20th April;

             Wednesday, 18th May;

             Wednesday, 15th June;

             No meeting in July (Council in recess)

             Wednesday, 17th August;

             Wednesday, 21st September;

             Wednesday, 19th October;

             Wednesday, 16th November; and

             Wednesday, 14th December.

            The Committee noted a list of licensing applications which had been granted under the Council’s Scheme of Delegation.

The Committee was advised that an application had been received for the grant of a Seven-day Annual Indoor Entertainments Licence in respect of the above-mentioned premises, based upon the Council’s standard conditions to provide music, singing, dancing or any other entertainment of a like kind. The Head of Building Control reported that a petition, consisting of thirteen signatures, had been submitted within the twenty-eight statutory period, which related primarily to noise nuisance and anti-social behaviour.  He pointed out that, under the terms of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 1985, the Committee, when considering an application, must have regard to any representation which had been received within that period.

Accordingly, the Committee agreed to consider the application at its next monthly meeting, to which the objector and the applicant would be invited to attend.

The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

1.1      To consider applications for the renewal and transfer of a Seven-day Annual Entertainments Licence for the Hatfield House, based upon the Council’s standard conditions to provide music, singing, dancing or any other entertainment of a like kind.  The transfer is from Kevin Cassidy as an individual to Cavanreagh Ltd. of which Kevin Cassidy and his son Kieran are the sole directors.

1.2       The applicant initially applied to vary the Entertainments Licence to increase the numbers on the first floor of the premises and to extend the hours of the Entertainments Licence to 3.00 a.m., on seven nights per week. However, after objections were received regarding the applications and in particular against the extension of hours, that particular part of the variation application has now been withdrawn and the applicant only wishes to increase the numbers on the first floor under their existing hours.

1.3       Letters of objection were received in October 2015 from local residents and representative community groups regarding the applications.  All objections were received considerably outside the 28 day statutory period as the applications were lodged with Building Control on 26thJune 2015.   Copies of the objection letters and the application forms have been forwarded to Members.

1.4       The reason that the application has not been brought before you for consideration until now is that Officers of the Service have, by mutual agreement, engaged extensively with all parties affected by the application and have convened a series of meetings and negotiations on the matters. Details of these meetings including the attendees have been circulated to the Committee.

1.5      All of the objectors, except two, have agreed to the terms and conditions as agreed at the Liaison Meetings and have withdrawn their objections. An agreement has been drawn up reflecting those terms and conditions and has been signed by the applicant and those who have withdrawn their objections.

1.6       The remaining two objectors are i) the mother of a resident of Lavinia Square, which is in close proximity to the Hatfield Bar, and ii) a resident of Hatfield Street, which runs alongside the premises and is the closest property on that street to it.  Both objectors have confirmed that they are not withdrawing their objection and have requested to make representations at the meeting on 16th December.  The mother of the resident of Lavinia Square has informed us within the appropriate timeframe of her request to maintain her objection under the operating protocol and we have thus been able to share the documentation with the relevant parties.  The resident of Hatfield Street has only just confirmed their request to maintain their objection at the time of writing this report and, therefore, due to the limited timeframe available, we are unable to share any documentation between the relevant parties, as required under  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 12th November, it had been advised that an application had been received for the grant of a Seven-day Annual Indoor Entertainments Licence in relation to Beckett’s Bar, based upon the Council’s standard conditions to provide music, singing, or any other entertainment of a like kind. The Committee had agreed, in view of the concerns which had been raised by the Head of Building Control around public safety and by the Divisional Solicitor in terms of the management of other premises operated by the applicant’s family, to consider the application at its next monthly meeting and that the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service and the applicant be invited to attend.

            Accordingly, the Head of Building Control submitted for the Committee’s consideration a report which provided information in respect of the application. He reported that Beckett’s Bar had been one of a number of licensed premises which had, under Local Government Reform, been transferred into the Belfast City Council area and that it had been brought to the attention of the Building Control Service that entertainment was being advertised there, despite there being no Entertainments Licence in place.  As had been the case with all of those premises which had been transferred, officers had met with the management of Beckett’s Bar to advise them of their requirements under the entertainments licensing legislation and had provided them with an information pack containing the necessary documentation for submission. As no application had been received, officers had visited the premises on several occasions in June and early July and had advised the applicant’s representatives that, since no Licence had been granted, she should not be providing entertainment and, should she continue to do so, legal action could be initiated. However, the venue had continued to offer entertainment and an inspection which had been undertaken on 10th July had found that it was taking place both inside and outside the premises.

            The Head of Building Control informed the Members that that visit had identified also a series of safety issues, such as fire doors being held open and escape and final exit doors being blocked. As a result, the Council’s Legal Services Section was now reviewing a file, with a view to considering the potential for initiating legal proceedings against the applicant. However, he stressed there was not, at this point, any conviction against the applicant in terms of Beckett’s Bar.

            He explained that an application for the grant of an Entertainments Licence had since been submitted for Beckett’s Bar and was now being presented to the Committee for its consideration. He confirmed that all of the information which had been requested previously by Members in relation to the Hughes family and the premises which they operated within the City had been included within the Committee report and that additional information, including a series of emails, had been circulated to the Members following the publication of that report. No written representation had been received in respect  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.