Agenda and draft minutes

RESOLVED:

                     That Councillor Morris be confirmed as Chairperson for                  the meeting.

To receive any disclosure of interests from Members and Officers in matters to be discussed.

Note: Councillors are reminded of their obligations to declare disclosable pecuniary interests, personal and/or prejudicial interests in accordance with legislation and the Council’s Code of Conduct.

There were no disclosure of interests made at this meeting.

The Chairperson welcomed all those present to the meeting:

Premises Licence Holders (and those acting on behalf of):

·       Matthew Phipps – Solicitor, TLT LLP acting on behalf of the Premises Licence Holders, Boomtown Festival UK Limited    

·       Luke Mitchell – Boomtown Festival UK Limited

Other Persons who made written representations and addressed the Sub-Committee:

·       Councillor David Pain (for Cheriton Parish Council)

·       Brendan Gibbs on behalf of Tichborne Parish Council

·       Terence Jones

The Licensing Manager introduced the report which set out an application for the review of the premises licence under section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003 for Boomtown Fair held annually at Matterley Bowl, Alresford Road, Winchester which had been submitted on 2 October 2024 by PC Brian Swallow on behalf of the Chief Officer of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, a Responsible Authority as defined under section 13 of the Licensing Act 2003. The applicant served a copy of the application on all other Responsible Authorities and the Premises Licence Holder on 2 October 2024.   

The public report and appendices, which included representations from 17 ‘Other Persons’, were issued to members and made publicly available on the council’s website. The report contained exempt appendices containing the full police review application, with supporting documents and the licence holder’s evidence. 

The Sub-Committee were advised that the application related to the prevention of crime and disorder and public safety licensing objectives following the death of a 22-year-old male at this year’s event of a suspected overdose of unlawful drugs, as set out in Appendix 1 of the report. An unredacted full application which was exempt from publication was set out in Appendix 4 to the report.

The applicant had requested that the following additional conditions were imposed on the premises licence to ensure that the licensing objective were upheld:

(a)      Any person entering the event and found to be in possession of                    unlawful drugs, shall be refused entry.

(b)      Any person in the event found in possession of unlawful drugs, shall be         ejected (unless there is an immediate medical reason not to).

The Licensing Manager advised that Boomtown Festival UK Limited had held the premises licence PREM773 since 30 July 2019. The licence authorised regulated entertainment, late night refreshment and supply of alcohol on one occasion per calendar year for six consecutive days. A full copy of the premises licence was set out in Appendix 3 of the report.

No representations had been received from other Responsible Authorities. However, it was noted that the South Downs National Park (SDNP) had stated that they agreed with the suggested wording of additional conditions and supported the police in seeking this.

The Licensing Manager reminded all parties that planning and licensing regimes were separate matters and were subject to their own enforcement.

The Sub-Committee were advised that 17 written representations had been received from ‘Other Persons’. These representations were set out in full in Appendix 2 and largely related to the prevention of public nuisance licensing objectives.

The Licensing Manager notified the Sub-Committee that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To consider whether in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

(i)             To pass a resolution that the public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business because it is likely that, if members of the public were present, there would be disclosure to them of ‘exempt information’ as defined by Section 100 (I) and Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

RESOLVED:

1.       That in all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

2.       That the public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business because it is likely that, if members of the public were present, there would be disclosure to them of ‘exempt information’ as defined by Section 100I and Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

Due to the withdrawal of the review application by the Police, and the subsequent adjournment of this Sub-Committee as set out above, the content of the exempt appendices to Report LR588 were not considered.