Agenda and minutes

Licensing Sub-Committee - Monday, 17th March, 2014 10.00 am

Venue: Civic Hall, Leeds

Contact: Governance Services  Copies of the full report with appendices are available on request from the clerk. For details of the new premises licence please contact Entertainment Licensing on 0113 2474095 after the hearing.

Items
No. Item

198.

Election of the Chair

Minutes:

RESOLVED – Councillor Gettings was elected Chair for the duration of the hearing. In accordance with Licensing Procedure Rule 6 and due to the unanticipated none availability of a Sub-Committee Member (Councillor Bruce) it was agreed by the parties present to proceed with a quorum of two for the business of the sub-committee.

199.

Appeals Against Refusal of Inspection of Documents

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 Services at least 24 hours before the meeting)

 

Minutes:

There were no appeals against the refusal of inspection of documents.

200.

Exempt Information - Possible Exclusion of the Press and Public

 

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.

Minutes:

There was no exempt information therefore there were no resolutions to exclude the public.

201.

Late Items

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)

 

Minutes:

There were no late items.

202.

Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

To disclose or draw attention to any disclosable pecuniary interests for the purposes of Section 31 of the Localism Act 2011 and paragraphs 13-16 of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interests.

203.

Review of the Premises Licence for Miah’s Restaurant, 3 York Place, Leeds, LS1 2DR pdf icon PDF 40 KB

The report of the Head of Licensing and Registration informs Members of an application for the review of a Premises Licence under Section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003, sought by Leeds City Council’s Health & Environmental

Action Service in respect of Miah’s Restaurant, 3 York Place, Leeds, LS1 2DR. The Licensing Authority is now under a duty to review the premises licence held by these premises.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report of the Head of Licensing and Registration informed Members of an application for the review of a Premises Licence under Section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003, sought by Leeds City Council’s Health and Environmental Action Service in respect of Miah’s Restaurant, 3 York Place, Leeds, LS1 2DR.

 

The Premises Licence holder, Mr Mohammed Miah, was not present at the hearing, neither was the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS), Mr Zaheer Dean.  There had been no applications from either Mr M Miah or Mr Z Dean to adjourn the hearing, and nobody attended the hearing to speak on their behalf.  The Licensing Sub-Committee decided to proceed with the hearing in the absence of the Premises Licence holder, the Members being confident that Mr M Miah had been notified of the hearing, and the Members noting that Mr M Miah had repeatedly failed to respond to any contact from the Council to date, either from the Licensing Department or from the Health and Environmental Action Service.

 

There were a number of members of the public present, including Mr John Boumphrey, Counsel of Zenith Chambers on behalf of Mr Momtaz Hafeez, the owner of Miah's Restaurant, and Mr Bashir Miah and Mr Shelim Uddin, both employees of Miah's Restaurant.

 

Two Senior Enforcement Officers were present at the hearing; one of which presented the application.  This Senior Enforcement Officer informed the Licensing Sub-Committee that the application for the review was brought by the Health and Environmental Action Service on the grounds of two of the licensing objectives:

·  the prevention of crime and disorder

·  the prevention of public nuisance

 

The Members were informed of the continual criminal behaviour by Mr M Miah as Premises Licence Holder by large amounts of food and other waste being illegally deposited on the public highway to the rear of the premises.

 

The Senior Enforcement Officer informed the Members that the matters relating to Miah’s Restaurant first arose in August 2012, when waste was found on the highway and the waste receptacle was overflowing.

 

 

The Senior Enforcement Officer informed the Sub-Committee that from April 2013, the problems persisted with waste being left on the highway, which naturally attracted vermin.  Despite visits to the premises and speaking to various members of staff and sending numerous letters, there had been no action by the Premises Licence holder to co-operate with the Council.  Due to the lack of assistance from the Premises Licence holder, the waste at the rear of the premises had had to be removed by the Council on two occasions, the costs being borne by the local taxpayers.

 

It was reported that legal notices had been sent to the Premises Licence holder, Mr M Miah, at various addresses, including those obtained from Companies House.  Similar letters had also been sent to a Mr Saleem Uddin, an individual found to be connected with the business, again at various addresses.  Health and Environmental Action Services had received no response from either Mr Miah or  ...  view the full minutes text for item 203.