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Disclosures of Personal and Prejudicial Interests. Minutes: In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, no interests were declared. |
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Statutory Licensing Sub Committee Procedure (For Information). PDF 121 KB Minutes: The Lawyer advising the Committee, presented the Statutory
Licensing Sub Committee Procedure, for information. |
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Additional documents:
Minutes: The Licensing Officer advised that the Applicant had
requested that the matter be deferred as her representative was unable to
attend due to a bereavement. Resolved that the
matter be adjourned. The meeting stood adjourned until 11am on Monday 13 February 2023. The Chair welcomed all attendees to the Re-convened Meeting of the
Statutory Licensing Sub Committee at 11.10 on Monday, 13 February, 2023. The Democratic Services Officer stated that there were no
apologies for absence. No Members or Officers present disclosed any
declarations of personal or prejudicial interest. Following formal introductions the Associate Lawyer outlined
the procedure to be adopted by the Sub Committee in considering the
application. The Licensing Officer reported on the application for a
Temporary Event Notice (TEN) in respect of Cinema & Co, 17-19, Castle
Street, Swansea, SA1 1JF received on 30 January, 2023 for an event on 3 and 4
March, 2023. She referred to the licensing objectives, policy
considerations, guidance from the Home Office and action following
consideration of the relevant persons objections. Specific reference was made to Temporary
Event Notice (TEN) at Appendix A, and the objection from Relevant Persons at
Appendix B. In response to a question from Randolph (the Applicant’s
representative), the Associate Lawyer detailed the process for dealing with
Objections from Relevant Persons which was via the Sub Committee Hearing which
had been adjourned from 7 February,2023 (at the
request for the Applicant) and reconvened today. The Team Leader, Pollution Control and Private Sector
Housing (Relevant Persons), advised that the objection to the Temporary Event Notice
(TEN) had been submitted on the 1
February, 2023. He advised that the
reason for the objection was as a result of complaints being received in
respect of the premises (Cinema and Co).
Complaints had been received in May 2017, November 2021, April 2022,
October and November 2022. The objections related to DJ type events that had
been held up until approximately 2:00 am. It was noted that Pollution Control Officers attended on 4
of November 2022 and were satisfied that they had witnessed a statutory noise
nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Following the visit on 4 November, 2022, e-mail correspondence was entered into
and a pre-notice letter was sent to the Applicant. Given the nature of the premises (ground floor with residential
above) an attempt was made to discuss the issues on site to see what actions
potentially could be taken and how a statutory noise nuisance at a future date
could be prevented. A visit was
undertaken on 25 January 2023, where advice was given to the Applicant and her
sound engineer. On Friday the 27 January, 2023, following that meeting,
there was a temporary event (a DJ type event) and Pollution Officers attended
the premises at 9:50pm as a result of a complaint. When they arrived music was clearly audible
on the highway outside the premises.
Upon entering the block of flats, music could be clearly heard in the
corridors within the stairwell and also within the complainant’s living room
and kitchen dining area. The predominant
issue being the base music being driven from the music downstairs to such an
extent the floorboards and the cupboards were vibrating and could be clearly
heard over the volume of conversation within the premises within the
residential dwelling. Pollution Control Officers were satisfied that the statutory
nuisance was in occurrence and as a result are looking to serve an Abatement
Notice under section 80 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990to prohibit the
recurrence of a statutory nuisance at Cinema and Co. There is an appeal period within an abatement notice once it
is served of 21 days and that notice is to be served this week. Therefore the proposed event would fall
within that appeal period. In conclusion, the Team Leader Pollution Control and Private
Sector Housing stated he was satisfied that a statutory nuisance was likely to
recur from this premises should the event be held, and therefore an objection
to the Application is made on those grounds. In response to a question from the Applicant’s Representative,
the Team Leader Pollution Control and Private Sector Housing stated that: ·
Two experienced Pollution Officers attended the
premises to gather evidence in order to determine the existence of a statutory
noise nuisance. The nature of evidence
gathering encompassed the duration, intensity, locality and suitability of the
building. Officers witnessed regulated
entertainment which was an activity which the Applicant is not licensed for and
the premises was unable to contain. ·
In relation to a building of this nature and
use, Officers would look to set a noise limit potentially upon discussion with
appropriately qualified acousticians. ·
There is a recurrence of the statutory nuisance
and numerous letters/email of complaint have been received from tenants. ·
For this particular site, when the residential
development took place, conditions were placed as part of the planning process
for certain levels to be achieved. However, that was for the licensed use of
the premises, the provision of the DJ Entertainment for example, was not the
licensed use and is a different sound pressure to the licensed use. The normal everyday use from the cinema, has
not generated complaints. ·
Discussions with the Applicant regarding
appropriate levels to carry out future events will form part of the abatement
notice when that notice is served, Officers would be happy to discuss that
point. ·
Following receipt of the Abatement Notice, the
Applicant would need to ensure that work is carried out and designed in an
appropriate way to satisfy the Council that once implemented, it would mitigate
and prevent the statutory nuisance reccurring.
The Applicant’s representative stated that, in his opinion,
the process should be more robust at the time of any complaint. He referred to the lack of consultation with
the Applicant on the night Pollution Officers attended and that the Applicant
had not been party to the details of the complaint.
The Team Leader Pollution Control and Private Sector Housing
confirmed that a site meeting had been held on site prior to the event in
January, with advice given about acceptable noise levels.
In response to a question regarding sound protection, the
Team Leader Pollution Control and Private Sector Housing stated that as part of
the initial planning
process, documentation would be available on the planning portal and the
Applicant would be able to access these details.
In response to a question from the Chair, the Applicant’s
representative stated that he was not aware of discussion with the neighbours
who had made complaints and was unsure of any measures the Applicant had put in
place to avoid any occurrence of noise nuisance. It was Resolved that the press and public be
excluded from the hearing in accordance with paragraph 14 of the Licensing Act
(Hearings) Regulations 2005, to enable the Sub-Committee to take legal advice. (Closed Session) Members
discussed the issues relating to the application. (Open Session) The Associate Lawyer gave a comprehensive overview of the legal
advice tendered. The Chair indicated that the Sub-Committee had considered
the application and representation made and the needs and interests of all
parties in terms of the Council’s Statements of Licensing Policy, statutory
guidance and the requirements of the Licensing Act 2003. The Sub-Committee Resolved to
Refuse the application. Reasons for Decision 1)
The Licensing Sub-Committee noted that the
Pollution Control Officer raised concerns from neighbours regarding a statutory
noise nuisance. It was noted that the complaints related exclusively to the
premises’ DJ nights and not to any film screenings held. 2)
There was no evidence before the Licensing
Sub-Committee of any attempts made by the Applicant to engage with the
complainants regarding the noise concerns raised. 3)
It was recognised that sound proofing measures to
reduce noise pollution cannot be installed in the timescale before the event. 4)
The Applicant provided no evidence of steps that
would be taken to promote the licensing objectives other than turning the music
volume down. Since the noise of the crowd would also add to the noise generated
by the event and that cannot be controlled by the volume of the sound system,
then the Licensing Sub-Committee were not satisfied that that would be an appropriate
step without the additional measure of sound proofing.
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