Agenda and minutes

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

RESOLVED – To elect Councillor Gibson 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 against the refusal of inspection of documents.

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.

The were no exempt items.

A formal late item was added to the agenda in relation to Certification of Films - 'Beeston Film Festival' Watsonia Café.  Minute 6 refers.

Supplementary information in relation to Agenda Item 6 - Application for the grant of a premises licence for Mleczko 329 – 333, Harehills Lane, Leeds, LS9 6AX. This was in the form of YouTube links which was circulated to all parties prior to the meeting. Minute 8 refers.

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

No declarations of interest were made at the meeting.

The report of the Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory advises Licensing Sub Committee Members of an application for the certification of a film to be screened at Watsonia Café, Cross Flatts Park LS11. The screening is scheduled to take place on the 25th June 2022

The report of the Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory advised the Licensing Sub Committee of an application for the certification of a film to be screened at Watsonia Café, Cross Flatts Park, Leeds LS11.

 The applicant was unable to attend the meeting.

The Licensing Officer provided the following information:

·  This application is for the Beeston Film Festival requesting the certification of a film, scheduled for screening on 25^th June 2022, at the Watsonia Café, Cross Flatts Park, LS11

·  A copy of the BBFC guidelines were appended to the report at Appendix A for Members information.

·  Appendix B of the submitted report set out the proposed arrangements for the festival, the films for classification including a synopsis and the applicant’s suggested rating.

·  To assist Members with their deliberation officers of the Licensing Authority had viewed each film and provided comments in accordance with the BBFC guidelines, the comments were attached at Appendix C.

·  Details of the films requesting classification, including a link to view the screener, had been provided to the Members of the Sub Committee in advance of the hearing.

Members had viewed the screeners. It was their view that the film Shear should be rated as 12. They approved with the other proposed ratings.

RESOLVED -  To grant as applied for with the exception of Shear which was classified as rating 12.

The report of the Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory presents an application for the Renewal of a Sex Establishment Licence for Whiskey Down, First & Second Floors, 25 Crown Street, Leeds, LS2 7DA

The report of the Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory requested Member’s consideration for the renewal of a sex establishment licence for the provision of sexual entertainment in the form of lap dancing. The application was made by Tokyo Industries Ultimate Limited for a premises to operate under the name of Whiskey Down, First and Second Floors, 25 Crown Street, Leeds, LS2 7DA.

Present at the meeting on behalf of Whiskey Down were:

·  Marcus Bentley – Manager

·  Aaron Mellor – Managing Director

The Legal Officer outlined the procedure for the meeting. It was noted that there were only two Members of the Licensing Sub Committee, as the third Member was unfortunately ill. All parties were happy to proceed with two Members.

The Licensing Officer provided the following information:

·  A copy of the licence was appended to the submitted report at Appendix A

·  The hours of operation are:

o  22.00hrs until 04.00hrs Sunday to Thursday

o  22.00hrs until 05.00hrs Friday and Saturday

·  A copy of the redacted application was attached at Appendix B

·  Additional documents supplied with the application were appended at Appendix C and included:

o  Dancers Welfare Policy

o  Dancers Code of Conduct

o  Customers Code of Conduct

o  Pricing Policy

·  Members were also requested to consider the external appearance and all methods of advertising. Attached at Appendix D were images showing the external appearance of the premises.

·  A map showing the location of the premises was attached at Appendix E.

·  Standard Conditions as set out in the current policy were appended to the submitted report at Appendix G

Mr Mellor provided the Sub Committee Members with further pictures showing the inside of Whiskey Down and gave a brief background to the history of the venue.

Mr Mellor said that the building had previously been the Town House but had opened in 2017 as Whiskey Down. There had been no issues since opening.

The name is Whiskey Down with an ‘E’ as in the American spelling for bourbon. Whiskey Down is not the usual gentlemen’s club/ strip club their aim was to create a new image for sexual entertainment venues. The club is fully inclusive and has both men and women as customers and is also LGBT friendly.

Many of the attendants are female. There are performances of ‘burlesque dance’ with the establishment looking to be a high-end gentleman’s club serving quality cocktails and champagne.

Member’s discussions included:

·  No objections from the responsible authorities

·  No issues reported

·  Establishment seemed to be well managed

RESOLVED – To grant the renewal as applied for.

The Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory sets out an application for the grant of a premises licence for Mleczko 329 – 333 Harehills Lane, Leeds, LS9 6AX.

The report of the Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory requested Member’s consideration for the application for the grant of a premises licence for Mleczko 329-333 Harehills Lane, Leeds LS9 6AX.

The Legal Officer outlined the procedure for the meeting. It was noted that there was only two Members of the Licensing Sub Committee, as the third Member was unfortunately ill. All parties were happy to proceed with two Members.

Present at the meeting were:

·  Dana Morad – Karpaty Foods Ltd

·  Patrycja Para – Karpaty Foods Ltd

·  Nick Semper – JMC Licensing Consultants

·  Kate Coleman – Environmental Protection Team

·  Peter Mudge – Communities Team, Town Centre Management

·  PC Clifford – Leeds District Licensing

·  PC Croft – West Yorkshire Police

·  Chetna Patel – Public Health

·  Cllr Salma Arif

·  Sue Duckworth – Entertainment Licensing

The Licensing Officer provided the Sub Committee with the following information:

·  This is the first application for these premises made by Karpaty Foods Ltd for Mleczko, 329 – 333 Harehills Lane, Leeds LS9 6AX.

·  The application is for sale by retail of alcohol for consumption off the premises

o  Sunday to Thursday 08:00 – 22:00

o  Friday and Saturday 08:00 – 23:00

·  A redacted copy of the application was attached to the submitted report at Appendix A. The applicant proposed to promote the licensing objectives by taking steps identified in Section M of the application form.

·  A map identifying the location of the premises was attached at Appendix B

·  Representations had been received from Leeds City Council Entertainment Licensing, Environmental Protection Team, Communities Team, Public Health, West Yorkshire Police Licensing Team and the Local Neighbourhood Policing Team Sergeant. Each representation on behalf of the Responsible Authorities objected to the application outright. A compilation of the representations was appended to the report at Appendix C.

·  The application had attracted ten representations opposing the application from both members of the public and Ward Councillors. Copies of the representations were attached at Appendix D.

·   The premises is located within the cumulative impact area for Harehills and a copy of the policy was attached at Appendix E.

Mr Semper, the applicant’s representative, provided the Sub Committee with the following information:

·  This would be a family friendly convenience store selling East European foods for the Eastern Europeans in the area.

·  The applicants have licensed premises elsewhere in the city and also in Reading. These premises have had no issues as they have a raft of conditions, one of which is that no sale of alcohol would take place without at least £5 of non-alcohol/non-tobacco items also being purchased.

·  Ms Para and Mr Morad own Karpaty Foods Ltd, Ms Para is the sole director and would be the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) of the Mleczko. She gained her personal licence from Wakefield Council.

·  Ms Para and Mr Morad have managed a convenience store in Armley which is also in a cumulative impact area called Armley Food Centre. They also manage Polenz at Middleton Park Circus and a convenience store in Reading which is just outside  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.