Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED – Councillor Armitage was elected Chair for the meeting

To identify any applications as late items of business which have been admitted to the agenda for consideration

 (the special circumstances shall be identified in the minutes)

No formal late of items of business were added to the agenda however all parties present had received the following additional information

Item 7 Pole Position – supporting information submitted by the applicant providing an overview of the events hosted by the applicant in other venues (minute 156 refers)

Members are reminded to declare any interests at the start of the hearing on each application for the purpose of Section 81 (3) of the Local Government Act 2000 and paragraphs 8 to 12 of the Members Code of conduct

There were no declarations of interest

To undertake a site visit to the relevant premises in respect of an application due to be considered by the Sub Committee

Members will convene at the Civic Hall at 10:00 am in the first instance with the intention of being on site for 10:30 am

The Sub Committee undertook a site visit to the premises of Pole Position Indoor Karting, South Accommodation Road, Hunslet, in preparation for their consideration of an application for a Premises Licence for the venue. Representatives of the applicant and the Responsible Authority which had made a representation to the application were in attendance to answer queries

RESOLVED – To note the information gleaned from the visit

To consider the report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Corporate Governance) on an application received for the grant of Premises Licence in respect of Pole Position Indoor Karting, South Accommodation Road, Hunslet.

The Sub Committee previously adjourned this matter from hearings scheduled on 18^th October and 9^th November 2010.

(Report attached)

The Sub-Committee, having regard to the Licensing Act 2003, the Section 182 Guidance and the Authority’s own Statement of Licensing Policy considered an application for the grant of a Premises Licence in respect of Pole Position Indoor Karting, South Accommodation Road, Hunslet.

Representations had been received from LCC Environmental Protection Team (LCC EPT). The matter had twice been adjourned from previous hearings to allow the applicant time to present appropriate documentation to the Sub Committee. Members of the Sub Committee had previously undertaken a site visit with all parties present. Present at the hearing were:

The Sub Committee heard from Mr Kenny of LCC EPT who stated no agreement had been reached between the applicant and LCC EPT over measures to address the public nuisance licensing objective. Mr Kenny detailed the strong concerns held by the Department over the acoustically weak construction of the building which he stated would not contain sound generated by the proposed events.

Mr Kenny detailed the weaknesses he had found within the Acoustic Report submitted by the applicant and commented on the lack of measures proposed to mitigate against sound escaping from the venue. He described the potential noise disturbance to local residents caused by events held throughout the night and stated the Department sought to ensure inaudibility at the nearest noise sensitive premises, however the applicants’ own acoustic report had shown this was not achievable. Mr Kenny added that this was a standard condition for premises and there were no special circumstances not to apply the requirement to this venue. In conclusion he urged Members to consider the suitability of the venue having regard to the public nuisance objective, and to impose the inaudibility condition on the Premises Licence should the application be granted.

The Sub Committee then heard from Mr Woods on behalf of the applicant who clarified that, following discussions with the Responsible Authorities, the applicant had revised the proposed operation of the venue in order to hold ten events per year to run for 12 hours each rather than the twelve 24 hour events applied for. Furthermore the capacity had been reduced from 9000 to 6000 persons although capacity for each event would be determined by available floorspace once the staging for each event was in place and with the agreement of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Mr Woods referred to the draft Event Management Plan produced by the applicant and highlighted the proposed offered condition which stipulated that no event could take place until the associated Risk Management Plan had been agreed by all Responsible Authorities. Mr Woods highlighted the key differences in the approach of the applicant to the noise issues raised by LCC EPT, he stated that that the applicant could not state they could achieve inaudibility but that during the sound testing undertaken, noise  ...  view the full minutes text for item 156.