| 93 | The sub-committee received a report of the Corporate Director for Place concerning an application that had been made by Mr Colin Joseph Parker for the grant of a Premises Licence at Greenhouse Restaurant, Eastwood Road North, Leigh-on-Sea, SS9 4LR.
The application was presented by Mr Paul West, the applicant's Licensing Consultant. The Applicant, Mr Parker was in attendance at the meeting.
The sub-committee noted that no objections to the application had been received from any of the Responsible Authorities. 156 representations had however, been received from local residents, 1 of which was in favour of the application. 7 of the objectors attended the hearing and spoke. Mr Aylen spoke on behalf of himself and 17 objectors. Mrs L Salter attended the hearing to speak on behalf of one objector who was unable to attend and also spoke on behalf of another who was only able to attend part of the hearing. The objectors' concerns essentially related to two of the licensing objectives, namely the prevention of public nuisance and the prevention of crime and disorder.
The sub-committee noted that many of the objections were in the same form and content and duplicated others from the same address. Whilst they were valid objections for the purposes of the Licensing legislation, they offered little substantive evidence of current problems at the premises or the effect that this application would have.
The sub-committee heard from the local residents about the quiet nature of the area which included residential, restaurant/café, ancient woodland, golf course, riding stables and associated park facilities. Residents were concerned about the potential for unacceptable noise and disturbance resulting from the use of the premises during the day and night, music and noise from patrons leaving the premises, including from vehicles being parked in the surrounding streets. The likelihood of an increase in the number of events that might take place at the premises in the future was also of concern to residents. Objections had also been made about the potential for anti-social behaviour. The sub-committee was informed that two complaints had been made on separate occasions to Environmental Health in respect of levels of noise and disturbance but that no further action was taken in respect of these. Additionally, one of the residents claimed to have contacted the licensee on at least five separate occasions to complain about noise.
The sub-committee's attention was drawn by the applicant to the agreed conditions that had been attached to the report of the Corporate Director for Place. A number of conditions were also offered by the applicant at the hearing to address the residents' concerns. The sub-committee was informed that an existing premises licence had been held by the current licensee since 2007. The applicant also stated that apart from the two complaints referred to above there was no history of any complaints being lodged with any the Responsible Authorities in respect of these premises, which included a number of events that had taken place under Temporary Event Notices in the past year. Furthermore, none of the Responsible Authorities with the relevant expertise in dealing with such complaints had objected to the application.
The Sub Committee considered all the evidence and submissions that had been made at the meeting and the written documentation that had been presented prior to the hearing. The Sub Committee also had regard to the National Guidelines and the Borough Council's Statement of Licensing Policy and considered the four licensing objectives, namely the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance and the protection of children from harm, as they related to this application.
Whilst the sub-committee was mindful of the residents' concerns, no objections had been received from any of the Responsible Authorities. The sub-committee was of the view that the application sought an acceptable change to the provisions of the current licence. It was noted that the Applicant had been granted 9 Temporary Event Notices in the current year. The sub-committee felt that the conditions attached to the report of the Corporate Director for Place, including the additional conditions offered by the applicant at the hearing, would be sufficient to address the concerns of the residents. The sub-committee welcomed a condition offered by the applicant to restrict the use of the outdoor area to 22.30 hrs and to cease music outside after 20.00 hrs. The sub-committee was informed that the enforcement of this condition, as relating to music and regulated entertainment, was subject to the provisions of section 177A(2) of the Licensing Act 2003 (as amended). The sub-committee accepted the assurances given by the applicant to comply with this condition and recognised that enforcement of this condition would necessarily be subject to a prior review of the premises licence pursuant to section 177(A)(3) of the Act. There was also the power to review the licence should such problems occur. In view of this and on the basis of the evidence presented to them, the sub-committee did not consider the promotion of the licensing objectives would be undermined by the granting of this application.
It was therefore:-
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