Agenda and minutes

In accordance with the Council's current Code of Conduct (adopted July 2012), which includes all the provisions relating to Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI), personal and prejudicial interests , Members are asked to declare any DPI and also any personal interests (and whether or not such personal interests are also "prejudicial") in relation to any matter on the Agenda for this meeting. A DPI is defined in The Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012 No. 1464) and Appendix 3 of the Council’s Code of Conduct.  A personal interest is defined in paragraph 2.8 of the Code and a prejudicial interest is defined in paragraph 2.9. In the interests of complete transparency, Members of the County Council, who are not also members of this committee, are encouraged to declare any interests they may have in any matters being discussed even though they may not be under any obligation to do so under any relevant code of conduct.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Licensing Sub-Committee noted the procedure to be followed when considering Licensing Applications under the Licensing Act 2003.  The Chairman introduced the members of the Sub-Committee and the Officers present at the hearing.

The Chairman confirmed that the Officer’s report relating to the case, the procedure to be adopted during the hearing and the documents which the authority is required to provide under the Regulations had been received by all Parties in advance of the meeting.

It was confirmed that no representations had been withdrawn.

The Specialist – Licensing informed members that an application had been received from Bristol Cider Shop Ltd, for a premises licence to be granted under the Licensing Act 2003 at Unit 2, Townsend Farm, Ilminster TA19 0JA. 

The Specialist – Licensing advised members of the following:

·         The licensable activities applied for were the supply of alcohol off the premises only on Monday to Sunday start time 09.00 hours and finish time 18.00 hours.  There were no seasonal variations or non-standard timings.

·         The hours open to the public were the same hours as for the supply of alcohol hours.

·         There were additional steps put forward by the applicant that would become conditions of the licence as outlined under Section M of the application.

·         The applicant had confirmed that the notices advertising the application were displayed at the premises from 10^th September 2021 for the requisite 28 day period and a further notice was placed in the Somerset County Gazette on 23 September 2021.

·         There were no representations from responsible authorities.

·         Three relevant representations had been received from other parties.

·         Several emails and letters of concern had been received that were addressed to the planning team and copied to the licensing team.  They were mainly in the form of a template letter and did not explain how the granting of a premises licence would affect them personally rather than the community at large.  The authors were advised that if they wished to submit a relevant representation to relate their concerns to the four licensing objectives and how the granting of the licence may affect them personally.

·         An email had also been received from the Parish meeting requesting that the deadline be extended however it was explained that as the process was statutory it was not possible to do so.

·         There was no cumulative impact policy for the area therefore the number of premises already licensed for the sale of alcohol was not a factor in determining the application.

·         No application for a premises licence would be required if the applicant was proposing to sell non-alcoholic apple juice from the premises; therefore the movement of traffic may be the same.

·         A premises licence would be required even if the applicant did not permit pre-booked collections from the premises as the sale of alcohol would take place where the order was put aside for the specified customer.

·         From the plan, the building for storage and the office appeared to be approximately 9.5 metres by 6.5 metres.

The applicant addressed the Committee in support of his application.  He felt that the representations were based on a misunderstanding and there appeared to be an assumption that he would be opening a bar or a shop where people could drink on site.  He referred to the concerns raised over traffic noise which he also felt stemmed from that assumption.  He confirmed that this was not the case and as detailed in the application, he was looking to open a warehouse where cider would be packed.  The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.