Agenda and minutes

Councillor Morris proposed and Councillor Murdoch seconded that Councillor Vaughan be appointed as Chair for this meeting.

RESOLVED:  That Councillor Candy Vaughan was appointed Chair for the meeting.

The minutes of the meeting of the Sub Licensing Committee held on 26 September 2019 were approved and the Chair authorised to sign them as a correct record.

There were none.

There were none.

All parties present introduced themselves and the Chair detailed the

procedure to be followed at the hearing.  There were no objections to the procedure from those present.

The Specialist Advisor for Licensing outlined the report setting out the application for a variation to the current premises licence for Three Monkeys Bar and Kitchen, 16 Langney Road.

Details of the application for a variation to the current premises licence were appended to the report. When submitting an application for the variation of a premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003, the applicant is required to describe any steps they intended to take to promote the four licensing objectives, as defined by the Licensing Act 2003. These were appended to the report at Appendix 1.

The premises in question is located within the cumulative impact zone

(CIZ) and where valid representations were received, the cumulative impact

policy (CIP) created a rebuttable presumption that the application be

refused.

Following a consultation period of 28 days, two representations had been

received from “responsible authorities” and were included in part of the agenda pack circulated. The representations centred on the prevention of crime and disorder, the prevention of public nuisance and public safety.

Mr Dene Sonnessa, applicant, acknowledged that he had not correctly referred to the four licensing objectives or the CIZ within the application form. Following communication with Sussex Police Licensing, he said he had agreed to all the conditions they had recommended to be placed on the licence. 

Councillors asked Mr Sonnessa, why he had applied for the same operating hours as Cameo Nightclub. He said he wanted the same opportunity as other businesses, to work together rather than work off the back of each other.

Councillors sought clarification regarding the type of films and dance that the applicant had proposed to provide.  Mr Sonnessa explained that films and music videos would be played in the background for adults and children using an overhead projector. Live dancers would perform alongside live bands and a karaoke machine would be available for use on a regular basis.  In response to questions raised regarding the capacity of the premises, Mr Sonnessa confirmed the venue could hold a maximum of 60 people, but more likely 40 people, and seat 35 people.  He also said that customers under the age of 18 would be advised upon entering the building that they must vacate the building after eating.

Sussex Police stated that the applicant was seeking to change the use of the premises to a late night vertical establishment by extending the hours of operation to 03:00hrs.  They referred to crime and disorder data, stating that another late night premises in the area would negatively add to problems in the CIZ.  Having met with the applicant on 3 November 2019 to determine type of premises, the applicant had said he wanted freedom to try different things, but he did not understand CIZ or the statement of Licensing Policy.  Furthermore, he had not offered any additional conditions or  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.