Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the meeting.

Cllr S Clarke was elected Chairman of the Sub-Committee.

To note any declarations of interest made by members in connection with an agenda item. The nature of the interest must also be specified.

There were none.

The relevant papers are attached.

NEW FOREST DISTRICT COUNCIL

LICENSING ACT 2003

APPLICATION FOR A REVIEW OF A PREMISES LICENCE – INDIAN TREE, 14 MARKET PLACE, RINGWOOD BH24 1AW.

Decision of the Licensing Sub-Committee hearing held at Appletree Court, Lyndhurst on 10 March 2023

______________________________________________________________

1.         Members of the Licensing Sub-Committee

            Councillor Steve Clarke (Chairman)

            Councillor David Harrison

            Councillor Joe Reilly

                                                ____________________________________________

2.         Parties and their Representatives attending the Hearing

Applicants: 

PC Mark Hawley, Hampshire Police

            Supporters:  

Timothy Kemp, Immigration Office

3.         Other Persons attending the Hearing

            Council Officers:

Ms Christa Ferguson - Licensing Manager

                                                ____________________________________________

4.         Officers attending to assist the Sub-Committee

            Richard Davies – Legal Advisor

            Joe Tyler - Clerk

                                                                        ________________________________

5.         Absence of Parties

At the outset of the hearing it was noted by the Sub-Committee that the Premises Licence Holder was absent as set out below:

Those who had indicated that they would not be attending:

Mr Adib Bacchu – Premises Licence Holder (“the Licence Holder”)

The Licence Holder was not present at the listed hearing starting time and the Sub-Committee invited the Licensing Manager to explain recent developments. The Licensing Manager described how the Licence Holder had emailed the Clerk (ie Mr Tyler, Democratic Services Officer) in the early hours of 9 March 2023 saying that he wanted to surrender his licence and not attend the hearing.  In response, the Licence Manager replied by email on the afternoon of 9 March 2023, with an excerpt from the Licensing Act 2003 (“the Act”) to describe what the Licence Holder had to do to surrender his licence. She also confirmed that, at the time of sending her email, the hearing was proceeding and if he was not intending to appear, he should explain why and that this would be considered by the Sub-Committee when deciding whether to proceed.

The Sub-Committee then invited the Legal Advisor to provide legal guidance on the situation.  The Legal Advisor explained that, in relation to the surrender of a premises licence, section 28 of the Act (ie the excerpt emailed by the Licensing Manager to the Licence Holder, referred to above) stipulated that surrender comprised of (i) a notice stating the intention to surrender the licence; and (ii) the notice had to be accompanied by the premises licence itself.  At the time of the hearing, the Licence Holder had not submitted the premises licence.  Therefore, the licence had not been formally surrendered by the Licence Holder.

Secondly, the Legal Advisor referred to a telephone conversation that he had been informed had taken place between the Licence Holder and the Clerk on the morning of 9 March 2023, where the Licence Holder said he ‘wasn’t feeling well’ and that he wanted to surrender his licence and asked if the hearing would go ahead in his absence.  The Clerk had explained that he could not advise the Licence Holder and that the Licence Manager would need to comment on the next steps.  This the Licence Manager did by her email of the afternoon of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.