Agenda item

To consider the application to vary a premises licence made by The Craft Union Pub Company Limited, for Woodman, 281-283 Selby Road, Halton, Leeds, LS15 7JS.

The report of the Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory set out an application to vary a premises licence made by The Craft Union Pub Company Limited, for The Woodman, 281-283 Selby Road, Halton, Leeds, LS15 7JS.

The Legal Officer set out the procedure for the hearing and the Principal Licensing Officer presented the application.

The following points of the application were highlighted:

·  Extend the licensable hours for sale of alcohol and recorded music to 01:00 on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday and to commence from 10:00 on a Saturday and Sunday morning.

·  Extend the opening hours to 01:30 on a Sunday and from 10:00 on a Saturday and Sunday morning.

·  Extend the licensable hours for late night refreshment to 01:00 on a Sunday.

·  No objections had been received from the responsible authorities. However, the Licensing Authority was in receipt of one objection from a member of the public on the grounds of public nuisance 

The following were in attendance:

•  Alex Green, Gosschalks Solicitors - Applicant's Representative

•  Valerie Wood, Craft Union Pub Company Limited - Regional Manager

•  Mr Coates – Objector

Mr Green outlined the application to vary the licence, as well as responding to the specific issues raised within Mr Coates' representation. Mr Green provided further detail on the application. The Woodman is owned and operated by Craft Union Pub Company Limited, a company with over 450 premises operating nationally. It recently won a Pub Award for Best Community Operator. The application is for a small variation, and the hearing was not a licence review.

Environmental Health had no objections, and police had no objections once some small changes regarding CCTV were implemented. Referring to paragraph 2.1 of the Section 182 Guidance, Mr Green said that West Yorkshire Police should be considered the experts in relation to concerns regarding crime and disorder.

In responding directly to the objection received, Mr Green said the pub has become significantly more successful over the past couple of years which inevitably means more noise. Mr Coates and the current management have a cordial relationship. Craft Union strongly denies the allegations of drug taking and dealing on the premises. There is a zero tolerance policy and the toilets are checked hourly. It had been noted that Chairs were allegedly thrown in Mr Coates' garden, however Mr Green was of the view that if this did happen, it happened before Craft Union took over. Mr Green acknowledged Mr Coates’ objection related mainly to the beer garden, which was not a part of this application. The current licence and the conditions for the beer garden would remain unchanged.

The Sub Committee then heard from Mr Coates who had submitted a representation in objection to the application. Mr Coates emphasised certain aspects of his representation including, that his fence had been left broken for eight months after it had been knocked down by a van in the pub car park. However, this had now been repaired by the current owners since the current management took over.

The beer garden is situated close to Mr Coates' garden, and he has security concerns as it has been known for customers using the beer garden to access his garden. This culminated in someone standing on the fence and commenting on the contents of his garage, so he has now bricked up the window. He had also planted roses to create more privacy, however these were destroyed.

Mr Coates agreed with Mr Green that he has had a good relationship with the current management. However, the character of the pub has changed, meaning behaviour such as drunkenness, screaming and shouting takes place into the early hours of the morning. Mr Coates was also of the view that some customers may be using the pub to purchase and use drugs.

RESOLVED – That the application to vary the premises licence be refused