Agenda and minutes

To seek nominations for the election for the position of Chair.

RESOLVED – That Councillor L Richards be elected as Chair for the duration of the meeting.

To consider any appeals in accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules (in the event of an Appeal the press and public will be excluded)

(*In accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2, written notice of an appeal must be received by the Head of Governance and Scrutiny Support at least 24 hours before the meeting)

There were no appeals.

1)  To highlight reports or appendices which:

a)  officers have identified as containing exempt information, and where officers consider that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons outlined in the report.

b)  To consider whether or not to accept the officers recommendation in respect of the above information.

c)  If so, to formally pass the following resolution:-

  RESOLVED – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of those parts of the agenda designated as containing exempt information on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information

2)  To note that under the Licensing Procedure rules, the press and the public will be excluded from that part of the hearing where Members will deliberate on each application as it is in the public interest to allow the Members to have a full and frank debate on the matter before them.

There were no exempt items.

There were no late items.

To disclose or draw attention to any interests in accordance with Leeds City Council’s ‘Councillor Code of Conduct’

There were no declarations of interests.

To consider the report of the Chief Officer (Elections and Regulatory) that introduces an application to vary a premises licence, made by Ismael Tomas, for Diva's, 246 Dewsbury Road, Hunslet, Leeds, LS11 6JQ.

The Chief Officer (Elections and Regulatory) submitted a report that introduced an application to vary a premises licence, made by Ismael Tomas, for Diva's, 246 Dewsbury Road, Hunslet, Leeds, LS11 6JQ.

In summary, the application requested to extend the timings for the currently permitted licensable activities, sale by retail of alcohol and late night refreshment.

The application had attracted a representation from Leeds City Council’s Environmental Protection Team, suggesting a number of additional measures which include conditions to prevent noise nuisance and to reduce the terminal hour for licensable activities applied for.

The following were in attendance:

-  Mr Ismael Tomas, Licence Holder

-  Mr Duncan Craig, Licence Holder’s Representative

-  Ms Vanessa Holroyd, Environmental Protection Team, Leeds City Council

The Legal Adviser to the Sub-Committee explained the procedure to be followed and the Senior Licensing Officer outlined the application.

Mr Craig addressed the Sub-Committee. Mr Craig advised that the proposed operating schedule set out in the application, seeking a reduction in hours for sale by retail of alcohol between Mondays and Thursdays, had been completed in error. However, Mr Craig recognised that the reduced hours may have influenced local residents’ decisions not to object to the application and therefore it would not be reasonable to withdraw this part of the application. Members were advised that Mr Tomas did however wish to amend the application for the sale of alcohol to 01:00 hours on Friday to Sunday, rather than 01:30 and the premises to close at 02:00 rather than 02:30. Mr Craig also confirmed that Mr Tomas was willing to accept the measures suggested by Environmental Protection, with the exception of Item 1, which refers to the hours for licensable activities.

Mr Craig informed Members that Mr Tomas had moved to Leeds from Lisbon in 2007, and that the premises mostly serves the Portuguese community living in Hunslet, many of whom work in the restaurant industry and visit the premises after work to relax and unwind, usually later in the evening.

Mr Craig noted that no objections had been received from West Yorkshire Police or local residents, noting that issues raised in August 2020 in regard to incidents of noise were not raised again in response to the application. There was some discussion about the incidents reported in August 2020, and Mr Tomas explained to Members that an unknown group of customers had arrived at the premises and proceeded to plug their own devices into the speakers and play music. When asked how he would control troublesome customers in the future, Mr Tomas advised Members that he had learned from the experience and now supervises customers entering and leaving the premises himself.

Ms Holroyd addressed the Committee, advising that the premises is located in a mainly residential area, and that even without music beyond 11.00 p.m., she would be concerned about the disruption to local residents if the premises remained open until 2.00 a.m. from Friday to Sunday. Ms Holroyd advised Members that, in her view,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.