Agenda item

The report of the Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory set out an application to vary a premises licence held by Muddy Boots Cafe Harewood Village Hall, Church Lane, Harewood, Leeds, LS17 9LJ.

(Report attached)

The Chief Officer, Elections and Regulatory submitted a report that set out an application to vary the premises licence held by Muddy Boots Café, Harewood Village Hall, Church Lane, Harewood, Leeds, LS17 9LJ.

In summary, the application sought to;

·  Extend the hours for sale by retail of alcohol until 23:30 hours every day;

·  Extend regulated entertainment until 00:00 hours every day; and

·  To include the provision of Late Night Refreshment 23:00 until 00:00 hours every day.

Representations had been received from members of the public, on the grounds of public nuisance.

The following were in attendance:

·  Mr Lascelles the applicant

·  Councillor Matthew Robinson speaking on behalf of the resident’s, two of whom were present at the meeting.

Mr Lascelles provided the Sub-Committee with the following information:

·  The café started in July 2018 and is a popular venue for residents and walkers;

·  It has become a successful business;

·  The Café has opened for evening events with the use of Temporary Event Notices (TEN’s) the first one being in December 2018;

·  There is a public house in the village, however the Café provided a different food option for residents and those visiting the village;

·  The café offers a relaxed dining format and the glass of wine is a supplement with the meal rather than being a bar for drink only;

·  Currently the licence is up till 4:30pm, they want to extend the service offered to the village;

·  Although the use of TEN’s has been good it is the view that to keep using TEN’s was holding back the business potential;

·  The application for an extension to the licence until midnight, 7 days a week had been applied for although, it was not the intention that the Café would open 7 days a week till midnight. It was suggested that the current 2 nights may increase to 4 nights;

·  It was not the proposal to open late and have music every night;

·  Mr Lascelles said that he had written to all the residents of the village explaining his proposals. He said he had had good feedback from most. He said that he understood the concerns of the residents but wanted to assure them that the Café would not be opening 7 days a week till late,

Responding to questions from Members the Sub –Committee were advised that the Café had a capacity of 45, it provided a relaxed place to meet with good food and wine, previous events had usually finished by 10pm.

The application for alcohol to be sold until 11:30pm and food until midnight was for future proofing the business to offer amenities and entertainment in the village for private rental and quiz nights. It was proposed that live music would not be a regular event with suggested events only once or twice a year.

Cllr. Robinson, Ward Member for Harewood had been asked to speak on behalf of the residents. Cllr. Robinson prior to speaking did declare an interest as he had attended the Food and Drink Festival in the grounds of Harewood on the previous weekend. Cllr. Robinson explained to the Members the concerns of the residents as follows:

·  The Café had increased in popularity and although nobody had an issue with the Muddy Boots Café, there were concerns that the application was for 7 days a week opening;

·  Potential of noise nuisance;

·  Car parking issues, it was noted that this was already was an issue for the village regardless of events as there was insufficient parking;

·  Parking was particularly bad during school drop off and pick up times;

·  The demographic of the area is predominantly older people who have concerns of music playing loudly late at night which would go into the area of Church Lane;

·  Noise of taxi’s picking up and dropping off.

It was noted that Mr Lascelles had sent a letter to residents on the 15^th May which was appreciated and had held a consultation event on the 22^nd May. However, it was the view that it would have been better to communicate with the residents earlier.

The residents who attended also spoke at the hearing and informed the Members that the residents enjoyed the Café. However, they were concerned that the events open till midnight would cause a noise nuisance and felt that a finish time of 10pm was more acceptable.

Members were advised that events taking place at the Village Hall were not connected to the Muddy Boots Café.

Mr Lascelles in responding to the concerns of the residents and questions of the Members explained that the plans for the Café were driven by the residents and what they wanted. He said that he did not wish to fall out with the residents and wanted the experience to be accessible and relaxed for all. He said that he didn’t want to compromise the relationship with the village and would listen to people’s concerns and come up with a solution agreeable to all.

Mr Lascelles advised the Sub- Committee of the following:

·  There was no business case to open till midnight 7 days a week;

·  The use of TEN’s would restrict what the business could offer;

·  Muddy Boots was only a small contributing factor to car parking as the car park was used by others in the village;

·  The car park was quietest in the evenings so may not impact on the parking issues;

·  No intention to open till midnight 7 days a week;

·  He accepted that the letter should have gone out earlier;

·  The application is only for the Café nothing to do with the Hall

·  Deliveries would be with the same supplier delivered between 08:00 and 10:00am most days with the exception of Sunday when there were no deliveries

The Sub Committee carefully considered the information submitted, both written and oral, and

RESOLVED- That the application be granted with the following additional conditions:

·  That a plan showing the red line boundary be provided with 14 days of the receipt of the decision notice;

·  That the sale of alcohol and playing of music to stop at 23:30 and that late night refreshment finish at midnight;

·  The premises Licence holder and / or DPS will adopt a cooling down period where music volume is reduced towards the closing time of the premises.

The Committee hoped that Mr Lascelles would continue to communicate with the residents.