Agenda item

To consider the report of the Head of Elections, Licensing and Registration on an application for the grant of a premises licence, made by Mr Gareth Abraham, for Cafe/Bar 68 Otley Road, Guiseley, Leeds, LS20 8AH.

(Report attached)

The report of the Head of Elections, Licensing and Registration requested Members consideration of an application for the grant of a Premises Licence for a Café/Bar at 68 Otley Road, Guiseley, Leeds LS20 8AH.

Members were informed that this was the first application for a Premises Licence for these premises. It was noted that representations had been received from West Yorkshire Police and Environmental Health Team but agreements had been reached. It was also noted that the operating schedule had been amended to include the agreed measures and a copy of the agreements could be found at Appendix C of the submitted report.

Members heard that the application had attracted four representations from members of the public and Ward Members on the grounds of public nuisance.

Mr Gareth Abraham the applicant and proposed DPS was at the meeting and informed Members that this would be a family run business selling craft ale and cask ale. He explained that the premises would also serve coffee in a morning.

Members noted that the premises had previously been a takeaway, an off licence and a tanning shop.

In response to Members questions Mr Abraham said that he had been told by a Licensing Officer that he did not need to be represented as the process was straight forward. Members were of the view that it may have been more prudent of Mr Abraham to have a representative.

When asked if there had been any conversations with the residents Members were informed by Mr Abraham that he had not spoken with the residents and that there had been some issues with the landlord.

Mr Abraham explained that his background was in the brewing business. He went on to say that he wanted the premises to be a modern twist on a café bar which would offer a variety of cask ales and craft beers. Mr Abraham said that he would be using Challenge 21 and was hoping that his clientele would be of those over 25 years. He explained that some of the beers that he would be offering would be up to £10 a pint.

He said that he would only allow children into the café bar up until 4pm.

Mr Abraham suggested that he would try to mitigate residents concerns and solve any issues. He explained that he did not want any public use to the rear of the property and that this area would only be used as a fire exit as per Planning Department and for staff use. Mr Abraham said that planned to have CCTV installed to the rear of the premises and hopefully this would make that area safer for the residents. 

Mr Abraham explained that a condition of Planning was that the premises would require sound proofing to the ceiling. However he was unable to provide the db rating when asked, but did inform the Members that he did not intend live music only soft background music.

Mr Abraham informed the Licensing Sub Committee that he did not wish for a smoking area to the rear of the property as this was used by the residents and was a dark area. He said that he would not want to have a smoking shelter to the rear as the area was known for drug related issues and anti-social behaviour and that the sheltered might become a place for teenagers and others to congregate. Mr Abraham advised Members that the visitors to the bookies further along the road smoked outside the front of the premises on the pavement.

Mr Abraham informed the Members that if this was to be the only area available to him he may not go ahead with the venture.

When asked about the proposed layout Mr Abraham explained, the front half of the premises would be used for the public area which would have a capacity of 60 people with a seating area for 20 and standing for 40, to the back of the premises it was proposed to have a small kitchen and toilets for staff use and the fire exit would be located also to the rear of the premises.

Mr Abraham said that he would not be serving food.

Mr Abraham advised the Licensing Sub Committee that the premises would be fully refurbished and that this would include fitting a new door and a vestibule to alleviate noise escaping from the premises when the door is opened.

Cllr. Pat Latty attended the meeting and was invited to speak by the Chair.

Cllr. Latty explained that she had thought she had put in an objection to the premises, however it appeared only objections from Cllrs. Graham Latty and Paul Wadsworth had been received by the Licensing Team. Cllr. Latty went on to say that was attending the meeting to support Mr Hajiani a resident and was in full agreement of the issues and concerns put forward by Mr Hajiani.

Mr Hajiani informed the Members that he had had no contact with the applicant, the landlord or the Licensing Team.

In relation to the proposed layout of the premises Mr Hajiani explained that the front of the proposed premises where most of the public area was to be located was directly under his living room and that the noise from the café bar would affect his day to day living.

It was noted that Mr Hajiani occupied the first and second floors of the property above the proposed premises. Mr Hajiani said that he had lived at the property since 2010. He detailed the issues that he had had with the previous occupants as follows:-

·  Background noise of music and smells from the Indian takeaway

·  Noise of the tanning machines and essentials oil smells from the tanning shop

·  The previous owners of the premises using his waste bins for their waste

Mr Hajiani also told the Licensing Sub Committee of the issues that he had in relation to other premises in the area these were:-

·  Noise of people leaving the Station Public House

·  People buying and selling drugs in the area

·  People vomiting and urinating in the area

Mr Hajiani also raised his concerns about noise from deliveries to the proposed premises and the collection of recycled bottles and the storage of goods to be sold.

Mr Hajiani was of the opinion that the proposed sound proofing would not be adequate.

Mr Abraham in responding to Mr Hajiani’s concerns informed the Licensing Sub Committee that:-

·  Morrisons located nearby had a recycling bin for bottles that he could use;

·  The largest delivery would be the first delivery but then would be deliveries on a smaller scale using a high sided van;

·  He could not be expected to have control over noise from people passing from one location to another;

·  He did not intend to use the rear of the property except for staff;

·  There was ample parking for customers in the area;

·  There was sufficient transport links with buses and trains; and that he was hoping to attract customers from a higher clientele.

Members considered all the information before them.

RESOLVED – To defer the application until 28^th November 2017 for further information on the following:-

1.  Proposed layout of the premises

2.  Sound attenuation measures

3.  Details of proposed smoking area