Agenda and minutes

There were no disclosure of interests made at this meeting.

The Chairperson welcomed all those present to the meeting:

Applicant:

PC Brian Swallow (Hampshire Constabulary)

Premises Licence Holder & Representatives:

Colin Clark – Licence Holder and Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS)

Julia Palmer – Trethowans LLP (Solicitor for Mr Clark)

Other Persons who have made written representations:

John Cowking (representation on page 28)

William Gubbins (representation on page 29)

Tim Wright (representation on page 32)

The Interim Licensing Manager introduced the report which set out an application to review the premises licence under Section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003 for The Exchange, 9 Southgate Street, Winchester. The application was submitted on 20 June 2021 by PC Brian Swallow of Hampshire Constabulary, representing the Chief Officer of Police for the area (a Responsible Authority as defined by section 13 of the Licensing Act 2003) and related to all four of the licensing objectives. It cited incidents at the premises in both 2020 and 2021 as evidence to support the applicant’s view that the licensing objectives were not being upheld. The full application was set out in Appendix 1 to the report. 

The Sub-Committee were advised that the application proposed the imposition of conditions on the premises licence to promote the four licensing objectives. In addition, the application proposed that Mr Colin Clark be removed from the premises as a designated premises supervisor (DPS) who had held the premises licence and been named as DPS since November 2005. Details of the operating schedule and existing conditions were set out in Appendix 3 of the report.

No representations had been received by Responsible Authorities. However, ten written representations had been received from ‘Other Persons’. These representations were set out in full in Appendix 2.

The Sub-Committee’s attention was drawn to Appendices 6 and 7, which set out correspondence between the Police and the premises licence holder’s legal advisor that had been submitted to the local authority since the publication of the report.

In addition, two further documents were circulated at the meeting, Appendix 8 (additional material submitted by the applicant) and Appendix 9 (proposed amendments to conditions submitted by Trethowan’s LLP on behalf of the licence holder). These documents are available on the council’s website here.

In conclusion, the Interim Licensing Manager advised the Sub-Committee that there were options to consider in the determination of the application, as set out in Section 4 of the report, to have regard to the National Guidance and the Council’s Licensing Policy and to promote the licensing objectives.

At the invitation of the Chairperson, the applicant, PC Swallow for Hampshire Constabulary addressed the Sub-Committee and responded to questions.

In summary, PC Swallow outlined the various incidents that had occurred at the premises and advised of Mr Clark’s failure to respond to the points raised by Hampshire Constabulary on several occasions in order to rectify and address their concerns to prevent further incidents at the premises.  It was noted that since the phased opening following the Covid-19 pandemic, The Exchange had received a disproportionally high volume of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

Exempt information within the terms of Paragraphs 1 & 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972

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, and in accordance with Regulation 14 of The Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005

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, in accordance with Regulation 14 of The Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005.

a)    Seven video clips submitted in evidence by the applicant

The Sub-Committee considered the above exempt video footage submitted by the applicant, which set out the circumstances surrounding a review of the premises licence for The Exchange, 9 Southgate Street, Winchester.

            RESOLVED:

That the exempt evidence submitted by the applicant as set out above, be received and noted.

The meeting commenced at 10:00 am and concluded at 2:05 pm.       

Chairperson