Agenda item

To receive and consider the attached report of the Chief Officer (Elections and Regulatory) regarding an application for the grant of a premises licence, made by Calverley Village Store Ltd, for Calverley Post Office and Village Store 38 Carr Road, Calverley, Pudsey, LS28 5RH.

The report of the Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory presented an application for the grant of a premises licence, made by Calverley Village Store Ltd, for Calverley Post Office and Village Store 38 Carr Road, Calverley, Pudsey, LS28 5RH.

Present at the meeting were:

• Nick Semper, The Licensing Guys – Applicant’s Representative

• Milad Karimi, Director of Calverley Village Store Ltd. – Applicant

The Legal Officer outlined the procedure for the meeting.

The Licensing Officer presented the application providing Members with the following points:

·  The applicant’s name is Calverley Village Store Ltd. And the proposed designated premises supervisor is Milad Karimi.

·  This premises was previously licensed under the Licensing Act 2005 for the sale by retail of alcohol every day from 07:00 to 23:00. The licence lapsed due to the dissolution of the company that held the licence. The company was dissolved on 28th June 2022.

·  This application was for sale by retail of alcohol every day 07:00 – 23:00. A redacted version of the application had been attached at Appendix A.

·  The applicant was proposing to promote the licensing objectives by taking the steps identified in the document which was attached at Appendix B.

·  A map which identifies the location of this premises was attached at Appendix C.

·  It was noted that the application had not attracted representation from any of the responsible authorities. However, representations had been received from a member of the public and a redacted version of their representation was appended to the submitted report at Appendix D, which opposed the application on the grounds of crime and disorder, public nuisance, the protection of children from harm and public safety.

·  A list of premises in the local area and their licensed hours and activities was attached to the report at Appendix E.

Mr Semper addressed the Licensing Sub Committee on behalf of the applicant and informed them of the following points:

·  The premises are currently closed, but the applicant is wanting to open the premises as a post office and village store selling alcohol between 07:00am and 23:00 hours.

·  A composite operating schedule has been submitted and there are control measures proposed so that none of the licensing objectives are undermined.

·  No representations had been received from any of the responsible authorities.

·  A representation had been received from a member of the public who lives near to the premises. The applicant had tried to contact them through a letter, but no response had been received. In trying to address the concerns of the representation made by the resident the following was noted by the Sub-Committee and Mr Semper had provided statistical evidence, as supplementary information.

o  There is minimal anti-social behaviour in this area.

o  There is a bench outside the premises, but this had not caused any issues when the premises were open previously.

o  Delivery vehicles would be delivering goods whether the premises were selling alcohol or not.

o  The premises has been a village shop for a number of decades.

o  There were no reported issues of young people congregating and making noise.

o  Young people do wait at the bus stop across the road for the bus to school. The applicant has no intention of selling restricted items to underage persons. Therefore, it was reasonable to assume that there were no issues.

o  It was the view that any illegal parking on the pedestrian cross could not be attributed to the applicant’s premises.

o  The applicant acknowledged that the premises was in a conservation area but had no plans to change the building.

o  The applicant had offered to ensure that the front of the premises was kept clean and offered to provide a bin.

o  The previous owners of the premises had sought a premises licence in 2021, but it was unclear if this had ever been used.

o  It was the view that people were fearful of speculation if the licence was granted.

o  There had been no issues at the premises previously.

Responding to questions from the Sub-Committee it was noted that:

·  The premises were currently not operating as the premises had been undergoing a refit.

·  The layout of the premises had been changed slightly from the layout provided, the fridge to be used for the display of alcohol was closer to where staff would stand, so it was visible to them. The shop also had CCTV in place.

Members considered all the information provided to them in the agenda pack and from information provided to them at the meeting.

RESOLVED – To grant the premises licence as applied for.