Decision

Premises:      
                                   
Ye Olde Black Bear, High Street, Tewkesbury, GL20                      
                                   
5BJ
 
Applicant:                                         
Tewkesbury Borough Council’s Environmental Health
                    
                                   
Team
 
Application for a review of a
premises licence under the public nuisance licensing
objective.
 
Present:                                              
Councillors N D Adcock, H C McLain and G M Porter                     
                                   
(Chair).
 
Representatives of
applicant:            
Environmental Health Officer
                                                           
Principal Environmental Health Officer
 
Representatives of the
respondent:   Luke Haynes,
Respondent (Premises Licence Holder)                    
                                   
Leigh Shelvis, Solicitor
 
Responsible
Authorities:                    
None
 
Other Persons addressing the
         
Six Other Persons speaking in support of the review.
Sub-Committee:                                
Two Other Persons speaking in objection to the review.
                                                           
Gloucestershire Councillor C M Cody – speaking on
                      
                                   
behalf of local residents.
                                                           
Tewkesbury Borough Councillor M G Sztymiak –                            
                                   
speaking on behalf of local residents.
 
SUMMARY OF REPRESENTATIONS
 

1.     
Aside from the applicant, no Responsible Authorities
had made representations in relation to the application.

2.     
332 representations were received from Other Persons
during the consultation: 32 representations were made by residents
living in close proximity and affected by the operations of the
premises; 21 representations were received by parties who were
against the review and offered relevant information; one neutral
representation was from Gloucestershire County Councillor C M Cody;
267 representations were made by parties who were supportive of the
operations of the business – these were not relevant
representations under the Licensing Act 2003.
 
PREMISES LICENCE
 
The premises is licensed for
the following activities and hours:
 

Sale by Retail of Alcohol

Friday and Saturday 09:00 - 01:00

Sale by Retail of Alcohol

Sunday to Thursday 10:00 - 00:00

Performance of Live Music

Friday and Saturday 09:00 - 01:00

Performance of Live Music

Sunday to Thursday 10:00 - 00:00

Performance of Recorded Music

Friday and Saturday 09:00 - 01:00

Performance of Recorded Music

Sunday to Thursday 10:00 - 00:00

Entertainment similar to Live Music, Recorded Music

Friday and Saturday 09:00 - 01:00

Entertainment similar to Live Music, Recorded Music

Sunday to Thursday 10:00 - 00:00

Late Night Refreshment

Sunday to Wednesday 23:00 - 01:00

Late Night Refreshment

Thursday to Saturday 23:00 - 02:00

Opening hours to the public

Sunday to Wednesday 07:00 - 01:00

Opening hours to the public

Thursday to Saturday 07:00 - 02:00

 
 
DECISION
 
Having considered the
application; the evidence provided; the representations made by all
parties, including those made at the hearing; the provisions of the
Licensing Act 2003, the obligation to promote the four licencing
objectives; the relevant sections of the Council’s Statement
of Licensing Policy and the Statutory Guidance it was resolved that
the conditions of the premises licence be modified as
follows:
 

CONDITIONS CONSISTENT WITH THOSE RECOMMENDED BY THE
RESPONSIBLE AUTHORITIES AND AGREED WITH THE APPLICANT

1.     
The premises licence holder, or an authorised member
of staff, must ensure that all public external doors and windows
are closed when amplified regulated entertainment in the form of
live and recorded music is taking place internally, except to allow
entry and egress.  The public external
doors must be on a self-closure fitting so that they cannot remain
open. A plan showing public external doors/windows shall be
submitted to the Environmental Health Team and agreed in writing
within 14 days of the decision notice being
received.

2.     
There must be no deliveries or collections relating
to licensable activities at the premises between 2000 hours and
0700 hours on any day.

3.     
There must be no emptying of recycling (including
bottle bins) or waste bins between 2000 hours and 0700 hours on any
day.

4.     
The premises licence holder, or a responsible person
nominated by the premises licence holder, must maintain a log of
complaints in respect to nuisance. The log must be kept for a
continuous 12-month period and must be made available for
inspection by Officers of Tewkesbury Borough Council or the Police.
(The complaint log must include the name and address of the
complainant, date/ time, nature of complaint and any action to
remedy where applicable).

5.     
All performances of regulated amplified live and
recorded music held in the external areas are to cease by 2230
hours on Fridays and Saturdays and by 2130 hours on
Sundays.

6.     
All performances of regulated amplified live and
recorded music held in the external areas are not permitted to last
longer than 2 hours on Fridays and Sundays and 4 hours on
Saturdays.

7.     
The premises shall be permitted to perform regulated
amplified live and recorded music on New Year’s Eve until
0030 hours on New Year's Day, in the external areas of the
premises.

ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS IMPOSED BY THE LICENSING
SUB-COMMITTEE

1.     
Amplified music taking place in any outdoor area,
including the terrace/patio area, must be limited to 32 days per
calendar year and cease at 2230 hours. Local residents, the
Licensing Authority and Tewkesbury Borough Council’s
Environmental Health Department must be given at least 14 days
written notice of these events.  The
local residents must be provided with a contact telephone number in
case of any issues.

2.     
The premises licence holder must submit a written
noise management plan (NMP) to include the preventative measures
that will be implemented at the premises. The NMP shall be produced
by a competent person who is a member of the Institute of Acoustics
(IOA). The NMP must be submitted to the Environmental Health
Department and must be agreed prior to any regulated entertainment
taking place at the premises (internally or
externally).  The NMP must also state
the area of local residents that will be included in any event
notification.  The NMP must be adhered
to at all times.

3.     
A noise limiting device must be installed and must
operate at all times regulated entertainment takes place internally
at the premises. This includes the installation of a tamper-proof
noise limiting device, set to levels agreed with Tewkesbury Borough
Council’s Environmental Health Department. All live and
recorded music played must be limited by the noise-limiting
device.  No live or recorded music
(except background music) can take place until this device has been
fitted and the levels set with Tewkesbury Borough Council’s
Environmental Health Department.

4.     
The rear external garden, including the
terrace/patio area, must be cleared of customers and secured by
2230 hours each night save for use of the Designated Smoking Areas
as identified on the site plan.  There
is to be no consumption of food or drink after 2230 hours in any
external area of the premises. The Designated Smoking Area must be
patrolled by a staff member at least every 30 minutes to ensure
that customers and staff do not congregate in this area and to
ensure there is no food or drink in this area.

5.     
Signage shall be erected to direct patrons to the
Designated Smoking Area, to advise on restrictions on food and
alcohol after 2230 hours and to request patrons to have
consideration for local residents. All signage to be agreed with
the Licensing Officer at Tewkesbury Borough Council.

CURRENT CONDITIONS REMOVED BY THE LICENSING
SUB-COMMITTEE

1.     
12.  Additional patrols will take place by members of
staff, internally and externally, to limit any noise pollution when
entertainment is being offered within the premises.

2.     
14. Where currently in
use, text/radio pagers will continue to be used for the additional
hours of trading and will be monitored by a responsible member of
staff.

3.     
16. The outside
drinking area will not be used by customers consuming food and/or
drink after 23:00.

4.     
17. The gardens of the
public house, except for the Designated Smoking Area identified on
the site plan, to be closed at 23:00 with no food or alcohol being
consumed outside after this time.

5.     
18. That use of
external areas after 23:00 shall be restricted to the Designated
Smoking Area as identified on the site plan.

6.     
19. Access to the
Designated Smoking Area shall be monitored to ensure no food or
drink is taken into the area after 23:00.

7.     
20. The Designated
Smoking Area shall be regularly patrolled during opening hours to
monitor noise levels from patrons.

8.     
31. On any evening when
the premises are open for entertainment/music, other than low level
background music, beyond 23:00 hours, all windows and doors shall
remain closed, other than when persons are actually entering or
leaving the premises, in order to reduce noise escape.

9.     
32. The designated
premises supervisor will ensure the effective overall management of
live or recorded entertainment, such as by monitoring noise levels
outside the premises to ensure that noise from such activities is
effectively inaudible inside neighbouring premises after 23:00
hours.

 
REASON
 
The
Licensing Sub-Committee considered that it must carry out its
functions with a view to promoting the four licensing objectives,
as set out in Section 4(2) of the Licensing Act 2003. The
Sub-Committee could not take into account representations which did
not relate to one or more of those licensing objectives and it was
acknowledged that any representations received must be relevant and
evidenced-based.
CONSIDERATION
The
Sub-Committee acknowledged the time and effort the respondent had
put into restoring the premises and that he would like the premises
to be able to foster the musical creativity of the community of
Tewkesbury and continue to be a viable and successful
business. 
In
determining the application, the Sub-Committee considered the fact
that no other Responsible Authorities had commented on the
application. It also considered the steps put forward by the
respondent to promote the licensing objectives since the
application for the review had been submitted and the fact that
there had been 32 internal events in that time without any issues
being caused to the residents.
The
Sub-Committee was concerned by the lack of engagement from the
respondent since the premises had opened and that it had led to the
review. The Sub-Committee was grateful he was now working with the
applicant and hoped this relationship could continue going
forward.  The Sub-Committee noted that
the applicant had issued warning letters requiring improvement as
part of its stepped approach and that these had failed to address
the concerns raised by residents. The Sub-Committee therefore took
the lack of engagement from the respondent and the relevant warning
letters sent by the applicant into account when makings its
decision.
On
that basis, the Sub-Committee believed it was necessary to modify
the conditions of the current licence and that the conditions being
imposed were necessary, proportionate (regulating the outdoor
amplified music events not all regulated entertainment) and
enforceable in order to mitigate the effects the nuisance was
having on the residents. The applicant was the relevant statutory
body for dealing with the nuisance therefore the Sub-Committee
believed that the conditions proposed by the Environmental Health
Authority, as amended by the Sub-Committee, would promote the
licensing objectives. Furthermore, the Sub-Committee had adopted a
number of the conditions proposed by the respondent when looking to
modify the conditions of the licence. 
The Sub-Committee was satisfied that these extra conditions would
go a long way to alleviate some of the issues raised in the
representations.
APPEAL
All
parties were reminded of their rights of appeal against the
Licensing Authority’s decision pursuant to Section 181 of and
Schedule 5 to the Licensing Act 2003. An appeal must be made to the
Magistrates’ Court and commenced within 21 days of
notification of the authority’s decision.