The Chair opened the meeting, outlined the procedures to be followed, and all present introduced themselves.

The applicant Delfina Kociubinska presented her application  to the Committee, outlining that she was planning to open a new family-friendly, family-run café/restaurant, and wished to also be able to sell alcohol so customers could have a drink with their meal. The applicant advised that following reading the representations from local residents she had withdrawn the provision of music from 23:00-00:00 and removed the request for music on New Years Eve from 23:00-01:30. The applicant confirmed that the opening hours she was seeking were 08:00-23:00, and that there was not a specific bar area but a small area where customers would wait for their table as well as an outside terrace area where they could eat and drink. The Applicant stated that she wasn’t planning to run a pub or a bar but she would want customers to be able to come and have a drink after work. She explained that customers should all have left by 11pm and that after that only staff would be on site to clear up, which she estimated would take no more than an hour.

Councillor Mary Curtin asked for clarification on whether drinks would be served without a meal. The applicant advised that yes she would serve drinks without a meal. Whilst it was mainly for a drink with dinner, she would not mind serving patrons a drink when it was quiet in between main meal times.

Councillor John Sargeant asked the Applicant if she had undertaken any noise assessments on the effect of her premises on the surrounding residential roads, to which the applicant responded that she had not. The applicant stated that she planned low level background music inside and outside, but that whilst it was essential inside, she could drop the outside music.

The Applicant then advised that a noise measurement had been taken of which 45db was measured. However Councillor Sargeant responded that this reading would have been in the current premises which was empty and therefore was not representative of what the noise level would be if the premises was fully operational.

In response to questions about staffing, the applicant advised that there would be 4 staff including herself plus a number of other casual part time staff. She would write a manual and train staff on company policies and advise them not to serve alcohol to intoxicated people.

The applicant advised that she was a local company made up of staff who lived locally and she would want to not be a nuisance, and hoped the Committee would grant the application.

The Committee retired into private session to take legal advice and make their decision at 13.53.

The Committee reconvened at 14:28. The Legal Advisor gave information on the legal advice he had given during discussions in relation to the Live Music Act 2012 and the evidence from objectors, as well as the issues that had been discussed with concerns about the outside area. The Legal Advisor then relayed the Committee’s decision.

The Chair closed the meeting at 14:32.

RESOLVED: That the Licence is granted subject to conditions.