Agenda item

To receive and consider the attached report of the Chief Officer, Elections and Regulatory

The report of the Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory requested Members consideration for the renewal of a sex establishment licence for Whiskey Down, first and second floors, 25 Crown Street, Leeds, LS2 7DA.

The Licensing Officer informed the Members of the follow points:

·  The application was made by Tokyo Industries Ultimate Limited for the premises known as Whiskey Down, located on first and second floors, 25 Crown Street, Leeds;

·  No objections had been received from Responsible Authorities, members of the public or organisations;

·  Members were provided with background information on sexual entertainment venues in Leeds and also a brief history of the premises;

·  The hours of operation are:

o  22:00hrs until 04:00hrs Sunday – Thursday

o  22:00hrs until 05:00hrs Friday and Saturday

·  The application was appended to the submitted report at Appendix B. It was noted that section 54 of the application which specified the removal of a condition relating to the requirement of a SIA registered door supervisor positioned on Crown Street, was mistakenly included in the application and dealt with by a previous Licensing Sub Committee  in 2018;

·  Appendix D showed that no promotional information was used except that already previously approved;

·  Maps showing the location of the premises were provided at Appendix F;

·  Standard Conditions for Sexual Entertainment Venues was appended to the report at Appendix G.

In attendance at the hearing were Aaron Mellor, Managing Director of Tokyo Industries and Marcus Bentley, General Manager, they provided the Sub-Committee with the following information:

·  In 2017, Townhouse was purchased as a sexual Entertainment Venue, Whiskey Down. The premises had had 3 previous renewals, this was the 4th renewal, with no previous refusals;

·  Mr Mellor explained that Whiskey Down were trying to modernise how sexual entertainment venues are viewed by making them more female inclusive, as they are in America. Whiskey Down were now putting on Burlesque shows;

·  The premises had recently been refurbished;

·  Whiskey Down had not traded throughout 2020, due to Covid restrictions.

Responding to questions from Members, Mr Mellor and Mr Bentley provided the following:

·  Burlesques shows had been trialled at in their other premises. They have other premises in Newcastle and Manchester, with a new one opening in York;

·  The shows are cabaret style performances, with burlesque included;

·  At the renewal in August 2020, a number of conditions had been requested by the Licensing Sub-Committee. It was noted that these had been adhered to, including the wording of documentation;

·  It had been the view of the Sub-Committee, which sat in August 2020, that ‘Gentleman’s Club’ was not an appropriate description. Mr Mellor explained that this term had not been used as part of the 1st application, however, it had been changed as per the request from Licensing. It was not a term used by the company and had now been changed;

·  It had also been noted in August 2020, that the social media of Whiskey Down was more suggestive than agreed, this had also been changed;

·  There were no changes to the floor plan;

·  Whiskey Down had not traded since March 2020. However, the premises did intend to re-open on 21^st June in line with Government guidance.

Members discussions included the website for the premises and the social media account, it was noted that changes had been made in line with Members requests.

RESOLVED – To grant the renewal as applied for.

The meeting was concluded at 10:30