Agenda and minutes

To appoint a Chairman for the Panel hearing.

Councillor Mier was duly appointed as Chairman of the Panel for the Devonshire Bar and Lounge, Bexhill hearing.

To authorise the Chairman to sign the Minutes of the meeting, at a later date, of the General Licensing Panel held on 21 August 2020 as a correct record of the proceedings.

The Chairman was authorised to sign the Minutes of the meeting of the General Licensing Panel held on 21 August 2020 as a correct record of the proceedings.

Devonshire Bar and Lounge, 4-5 Devonshire Square, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, TN40 1AB (WK202008380)

Consideration was given to the report of the Head of Service Environmental Services, Licensing and Community Safety that gave details of an application for a review of the premises licence for the Devonshire Bar and Lounge, Bexhill relating to the failure of the Premises Licence Holder to uphold the ‘prevention of crime and disorder’, ‘public safety’ and ‘prevention of public nuisance’ licensing objectives. Two responsible authorities made representations and there were two representations made by interested parties.

Prior to the commencement of the hearing, the Deputy Legal Services Manager gave advice to the Applicant regarding the grounds on which the licensing review application could be considered.

The Chairman welcomed all who were present and gave general advice regarding the hearing. The Panel then proceeded to hear the case following the adopted procedure and all parties present at the hearing were invited to address the Panel.

The Panel heard from the Senior Environmental Health Officer (Licensing) who presented the report of the Head of Service Environmental Services, Licensing and Community Safety and Peter Savill, 12CP Barristers, (the Applicant’s legal representative) who presented the case for the review.

The Panel then heard from the Environmental Health Officer (Pollution) and the Environmental Health Officer (Food and Health Safety) for the Responsible Authorities, Cllr Bayliss, one of the Interested Parties and finally, from the Premises Licence Holder’s legal representative, James Rankin.

The Panel also gave full consideration to the witness statements provided in the report by Sussex Police and the additional information supplied by the Premises Licence Holder.

The Panel deliberated the application, which was determined having regard to the licensing objectives, together with the Guidance under section 182 of the Licensing Act and the local Licensing Policy and retired to make their decision in private session.  It was agreed to notify all parties of the Panel’s decision within five working days.

RESOLVED:  That the Premises Licence be amended by a reduction in hours and the imposition of 11 conditions, as set out within the Decision Notice at Appendix 1.