Councillor E Gill was elected as Chairman for the meeting.

Members are invited to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests or other registrable and non-registrable interests in items on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

The procedure to be followed for the meeting was explained to all present.  The Chairman also introduced the parties to each other and assured all parties that they would have an equal opportunity to present their case, ask and answer questions.

If the Sub-Committee is minded to determine the application in private session, it is the

OFFICERS' RECOMMENDATION that -

Where appropriate the press and public be excluded from the meeting during discussion of the report(s) under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that the report in question would be likely to involve disclosure of exempt information of the description specified in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

(To resolve)

By resolution of the Sub-Committee, for the reasons set out in the agenda, the press and public were excluded from the determination of the application under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that the discussion would be likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information of the description specified in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 the Schedule 12A to part 1 of the Act.

Mr Smith, Senior Licensing Officer, was invited to present his report.  This outlined the details of the application to vary the premises licence of Super Pizza in Chertsey. 

The Sub-Committee was advised that the application for the variation to the premises licence held by Super Pizza concerned late night refreshment only as defined under the Licensing Act as ‘involving the supply of hot food or hot drink between the hours of 23:00 and 05:00 hours to the public for consumption on or off the premises to which the public has access.’

Members noted that Super Pizza was a relatively small premises in Guildford Street, Chertsey.  Currently it was in use as a takeaway and eat in premises containing one condition prohibiting retail trading (over the counter) after 23:00 hours, reducing late night refreshment to deliveries only.  Its primary licensable activity was the provision of late night refreshment and the sale by retail of alcohol.  The application to vary the premises licence would effectively remove the condition on over the counter sales to allow retail over the counter and eat in until the existing closing times of the premises as set out in the report.

Mr Smith explained that two responsible authorities and six residents had submitted objections to the application.  Members were cautioned not to take those objections relating to Planning into consideration and to focus only on those issues pertinent to the Licensing objectives.  Members were also advised that some of the objections related to alleged incidents in the past for which there was no evidence that they were related to the premises in question.

It was confirmed that the applicants had not responded to any of the objections prior to the Hearing.

The Committee’s attention was drawn to sections of the Council’s Licensing Policy and relevant parts of the guidance issued under Section 182 of the Licensing Act.

The agenda bundle also contained full details of the objections, and recent photographs of the premises and its location.

There were no questions at this stage for Mr Smith.  Therefore the applicants were invited to state their case.

Mr Khalid explained that the previous owner of the premises had led them to believe that the licence allowed them to engage in over the counter trade beyond 23:00 hours until closing time and they had been doing so until it had been pointed out to them by Mr Smith that it was in fact a breach of their conditions.  Mr Khalid conceded that he should have been more diligent in this regard.

Mr Khalid stated that there had been no issues in the last year they had been trading; no-one had complained to them about any of the issues contained in the objections apart from the noisy exhaust on the extractor which had been upgraded with a silencer and filter at their own expense.  There had been one issue with a customer raised by the Police which was described as a personal matter and quickly resolved.

Mr Khalid confirmed their premises  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.