RESOLVED:  That Councillor Judy Saunders be appointed Chair of the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair, Councillor Judy Saunders opened the meeting and introduced the Committee. The Applicant confirmed they had received all of the papers and the procedure for the meeting was outlined.

Karen Cochrane, speaking on behalf of the Applicant, presented the Application on behalf of Stars Pubs and Bars Limited, who dealt with the premises at arms length, with the Premises Licence itself being in the name of the tenant. However, if a long term tenant is not found, then the premises will be managed by Stars Pubs and Bars Limited, which was the case for the Mitcham Mint.

The Application sought the variation of the Premises Licence to amend the plans to include an outside area, and to make various amendments to the conditions (including relaxing the prohibition on use of the outside area, adding a more robust CCTV condition, amending the opening hours to allow early breakfast opening, and amendment of the embedded conditions to remove the restrictive hours on Good Friday and Christmas Day),

The Applicant stated that the concerns raised by local residents arose during tenancies by temporary managers appointed to run the premises at arms length, and the reason for this new variation application was to try and improve the outside areas and invest in the premises, giving an example of hanging baskets and quality outside barriers as examples of some proposals. The premises wanted to retain a long term tenant and also to make the external area more attractive and comfortable for patrons.

Councillor Saunders asked for clarification on the outside area to be added to the licensing plans, which had been applied for, and the Applicant confirmed that this was an area adjacent to the footpath at the front of the premises.

The Applicant advised the Committee that they were all agreed that the premises needed to change and they wanted to change the way it was both operated and perceived. The Applicant also observed that there had been no representations received from any Responsible Authority, which the Applicant felt was significant. The Applicant noted that should there be any issues, the Premises Licence could be reviewed.

The CCTV condition amendment arose because the Police had asked the Applicant to amend and improve condition 5, and therefore this proposed condition 5 had been submitted in consultation with the Police.

Referring to the Opening Hours, the Applicant advised that they had applied to open earlier to provide coffee/breakfast as this would be what a community/family-friendly premises would do and stated that they were not asking for an extension to the licensing hours or the closing time of the premises.

The Applicant addressed the representations received from residents, submitting that this showed that the premises had some history (resulting in the current conditions on the licence), but reiterated that they wanted to change and improve the premises, and were asking for a chance to try and make the premises more attractive to a responsible operator.

Ms Cochrane informed the Committee that Star Pubs and Bars was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.