| 781 | The sub-committee received a report of the Corporate Director for Place concerning an application that had been made by Premier Properties (Essex) Ltd, 18 Hand Court, Holborn, London, WC1V 6JF for the variation of a Premises Licence for the existing licensed premises known as The Blue Boar, located at 177 Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea.
The Application was presented by Mr S Pickering (Licensing Agent). Ms K Perry (Landlady) and Ms L Edgington (Designated Premises Supervisor) were in attendance at the meeting.
The Sub Committee noted no objections had been received from Essex Police and conditions had been agreed during consultation with Essex Police Licensing Unit that the current conditions imposed on the current licence would be transposed onto the new licence if the variation was granted.
Two of the other Responsible Authorities, namely the Licensing Authority and the Environmental Protection Team, had however, objected to the application. Their concerns related to, amongst other things, complaints of noise nuisance caused by loud music and behavioural noise from the premises, including noise from patrons of the premises smoking outside over the past year. These would undermine the Licensing objectives in particular the prevention of public nuisance. Mr A Penn of the Licensing Authority and Ms E Walpole of the Environmental Protection Team attended the hearing and gave evidence.
Representations had also been received from local residents, five of whom attended the hearing and gave evidence objecting to the application. Their concerns also related to loud music and behavioural noise.
At the meeting, the Applicant amended the application for the provision of regulated entertainment comprising of recorded music (indoors) and live music (indoors) to Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00 hours to 00:00 hours (midnight). The Applicant also offered the following conditions to address the objections to the application:
(i) To only allow smoking at the entrance in West Road;
(ii) To provide the contact details of the management team for residents to contact in the event of any complaint; and
(iii) The installation of a noise limiting device.
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.
On balance, the Sub Committee accepted the evidence of the Responsible Authorities and resident objectors and, on the basis of the evidence before them, decided that the amended application together with the conditions offered at the hearing would not be sufficient to control the levels of music and behavioural noise emanating from the premises.
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