Agenda and minutes
PDF 133 KBVenue: The Council House, Burcot Lane, Bromsgrove
Contact: Pauline Ross
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Apologies Minutes: An apology for absence was received from Councillor J. R. Boulter. |
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Declarations of Interest To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests. Minutes: Councillor R. L. Dent declared an other disclosable interest in Agenda Item No. 12. Councillor Dent withdrew from the meeting and was not present for and took no part in its consideration and voting thereon.
The Chair was taken by the Vice-Chairman, Councillor C. J. Spencer during the consideration of that item. |
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Minutes: The minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Committee held on 30th September 2013 were submitted.
RESOLVED that the minutes be approved as a correct record. |
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Worcester Road Hackney Carriage Stand - Update Additional documents:
Minutes: Following on from the meeting held on 30th September 2013 consideration was given to a report that provided Members with details of the responses received during the consultation on the proposal to amend the Worcester Road Hackney Carriage stand to incorporate a further 7/8 rank spaces.
The Senior Licensing Practitioner introduced the report and in doing so drew Members’ attention to section 3.8 in the report, which stated that the request from the Taxi Association to amend the Worcester Road Hackney Carriage Stand to incorporate a further 7/8 rank spaces had been supported by West Mercia Police. The required public notice was published and consultation letters were sent to all proprietors of vehicles licensed by the Council for use as Hackney Carriages. Consultation letters were delivered to residents and businesses in the vicinity of the proposed Hackney Carriage stand. The consultation period ended on 11th October 2013. The comments and objections received to the consultation were detailed at Appendix 2 to the report.
In the intervening period officers from Worcestershire Regulatory Services had engaged in dialogue and met, on the proposed site, with the relevant officers from West Mercia Police and Worcestershire County Council’s Highways Department to discuss the proposal. The Traffic Management Advisor for West Mercia Police had indicated that they would not support the current proposal. A Senior Traffic Management Engineer for Worcestershire County Council had expressed concerns about the current proposal. The Senior Licensing Officer informed the Committee that an invitation had been extended to the relevant officers from West Mercia Police and Worcestershire County Council to attend the meeting to speak further on the objections and comments that had been made with regard to being unable to support the proposal.
The Vice-Chairman in the Chair expressed her disappointment that officers from West Mercia Police and Worcestershire County Council had been unable to attend the meeting. Members also expressed their concerns that officers from West Mercia Police and Worcestershire County Council had initially agreed to support the proposal, whereas now officers from West Mercia Police and Worcestershire County Council were unable to support the proposal.
Further discussion followed more specifically on the Worcester Road area. Members understood the need for additional spaces on Worcester Road in order to ensure that members of the public were safely and quickly transported away from the town centre to prevent potential anti-social behaviour with large numbers of people leaving licensed premises at the same time.
Members were in agreement that the recommendation, as detailed in the report, to proceed with the current proposal, was not viable without the support of West Mercia Police and Worcestershire County Council.
Councillor R. J. Shannon suggested amending recommendation (b), as detailed in the report, and suggested an alternative recommendation:
(b) that officers explore other options for creating additional rank spaces in the Town Centre.
Councillor Griffiths responded and suggested that the Taxi Association would have made that proposal should there have been a need, but they had identified a need in the Worcester Road area. ... view the full minutes text for item 25. |
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Licensing Act 2003 - Review of Statement of Licensing Policy Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee considered a report which detailed the draft revised Statement of Licensing Policy for the purpose of consultation with all relevant partners.
The Senior Licensing Practitioner introduced the report and in doing so informed Members that the Council’s existing Statement of Licensing Policy was published on 7th January 2011. Section 5 of the Licensing Act 2003 required licensing authorities to review their Statement of Licensing Policy every five years, therefore a reviewed Statement of Licensing Policy would need to be approved by Council and published no later than 7th January 2016. Whilst the Council were not legally required to review their Statement of Licensing Policy for another two years, officers felt it was desirable to review the Statement of Licensing Policy at this stage as a result of the large number of changes to the legislation and statutory guidance since the existing Statement of Licensing Policy was published in January 2011.
The draft revised Statement of Licensing Policy, attached at Appendix 1 to the report, had been completely redrafted and was based on a template provided by the Local Government Association.
The Senior Licensing Practitioner responded to Members’ questions and drew Members’ attention to section 3.8 in the report, which detailed the legislative changes reflected within the revised Statement of Licensing Policy and section 3.9 in the report, which detailed all the relevant parties to be consulted with. The consultation would be carried out over a period of twelve weeks with the responses received during the consultation period to be presented at the Licensing Committee meeting on 17th March 2014.
RESOLVED that the draft revised Statement of Licensing Policy be approved for the purpose of consultation with all relevant parties. |
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Licensing Committee Work Programme 2013/2014 Minutes: The Committee considered the Work Programme for 2013/2014.
The Democratic Services Officer informed the Committee that with regard to a further update on the DPPO – Designated Public Places Order, as detailed on the work programme, the new legislation in the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act was waiting to receive the Royal Assent. Royal Assent was received twice a year during May and October, so the earliest possible opportunity to receive Royal Assent would be May 2014.
RESOLVED that the Work Programme be noted. |