Agenda item

Application for a premises licence on land at Daresbury

Meeting of Regulatory Committee, Monday, 8th June, 2009 6.30 p.m. (Item 32.)

Minutes:

The Committee met to consider an application which had been made under section 17 of the Licensing Act 2003 for a premises licence in relation to the above premises.

The hearing was held in accordance with the provisions of section 18 Licensing Act 2003 and the Licensing Act (Hearings) Regulations 2005.

The Committee heard representations in person on behalf of:

1 the applicant,

2 Cheshire Constabulary and Halton Borough Council’s Environment Enforcement and Building Control Division, and Warrington Borough Council (as responsible authorities)

3 Mr & Mrs Harris, Dr & Mrs Barlow and Mr Priestner & Miss Priestner of Higher Walton and Mr Owen of Daresbury (as interested parties)

The Committee also considered all written relevant representations from interested parties

The applicant informed the Committee that it was amending its application by seeking a grant of a premises licence limited to a three year period.

Cheshire Constabulary had not objected to the grant of a permanent licence provided that it was restricted to the August Bank Holiday Weekend in any year and did not object to the grant of a three year licence subject to conditions being imposed. As part of their presentation Cheshire Constabulary outlined a number of conditions which they had requested to be attached to the premises licence should the application be granted. Certain proposals made by Cheshire Constabulary were outside the scope of the Licensing Act 2003 and were withdrawn: and others were not appropriate to the decision reached by the Committee. However, the majority of the conditions proposed by Cheshire Constabulary were accepted by the Committee.

Warrington Borough Council objected to the original application and had not proposed any conditions should a licence for a limited period be granted. Warrington Borough Council also objected to the amended application but stated that it would not object to a licence limited to one year (subject to the conditions proposed by Halton Borough Council in the printed agenda).

Halton Borough Council’s Environmental Health and Building Control Division had objected to the grant of a permanent licence but proposed a number of conditions should a licence be granted for a limited period (that is, the August Bank Holiday weekend 2009). However, no objection was raised by them to the amended application subject to additional conditions that were tabled at the hearing.

Representations had been received from 148 interested parties. A further 12 representations were made by persons outside of the vicinity of the site. One representation was received which contained no address. The vicinity of the site had been determined to be the area enclosed within a radius of 1.5 miles from the site (or just over 7 square miles). The 12 persons who have submitted representations from outside the vicinity of the premises together with the person who did not provide an address were not considered to be interested parties. The representations had been placed on the application file and copies had been forwarded to the applicant and to members of the Committee prior to the hearing. Only relevant representations were taken into account by the Committee (the Committee having determined what constituted a relevant representation from an interested party). Where a representation contained both relevant and irrelevant material, only the relevant elements of the representation were taken into account. In some cases no evidence/information had been put forward to substantiate the reasons expressed and in some cases objections have been raised which are not related to the licensing objectives (for example, traffic congestion or impact on property sales) or not directly related to the premises which were the subject of the application. A number of representations objected to a permanent licence rather than a temporary licence. In a number a cases, conditions were suggested by interested parties. In all cases, the Committee preferred the conditions proposed by the responsible authorities.

Seven interested parties addressed the Committee in person.

At the conclusion of the hearing the Committee retired to consider the application

Resolved: That:

(1) having considered the application in accordance with section 4 Licensing Act 2003 and all other relevant considerations, a premises licence be granted for the period beginning on 29^th August 2009 and ending on 31^st August 2009 in accordance with the application and operating schedule (including the documents incorporated therewith) subject to the conditions set out in the Appendix to this minute; and

(2) the reason for the determination was that the Committee felt that the application would be consistent with the Licensing Objectives subject to being granted for a limited period and subject to these conditions. In particular, the Committee was not satisfied that the grant of a licence for a longer period was appropriate in view of the untested configuration of the licensable activities.

Appendix to Minute

Condition 1:

The Challenge 21 Proof of Age Scheme shall be adopted both as condition of entry and as a condition of purchasing tickets at the on-site ticket booth. A tent or other structure shall be provided, immediately adjacent to the entry gates, where checks can be carried out by Licence holder and police staff.

The operating procedures for implementing this Condition are set out in Annex 1 and constitute part of this Condition.

Reason for condition: to promote the objective of preventing crime and disorder

Condition 2:

No licensable activities shall take place unless all Public Footpaths running across the premises have been temporarily closed and suitable alternative routes that may have been identified have been displayed.

Reason for condition: to promote the objective of preventing crime and disorder

Condition 3:

All CCTV must comply with the recommendations of the Mulit-Agency Planning team and, in any event, shall not fall below the provisions employed at the 2008 event without prior Police agreement.

Reason for condition: to promote the objective of preventing crime and disorder

Condition 4:

There will be a final sign-off time, suitable to and set by all Responsible Authorities. This will be set by a meeting with the licence holder and Responsible authorities,

Reason for condition: to promote the objective of preventing crime and disorder

Condition 5:

The numbers of SIA registered staff and stewards and their deployment areas and times of duty shall be set by the Multi-Agency Planning Team and shall not fall below the provisions employed at the 2008 event without Police agreement.

Reason for condition: to promote the objective of preventing crime and disorder

Condition 6:

An appointed representative from the Licence Holder shall attend meetings arranged between the Police and the S.I.A.

Reason for condition: to promote the objective of preventing crime and disorder

Condition 7:

Members of the Senior Management of the Licence Holder shall attend Adversarial Briefings with senior Police staff when arranged prior to the event. Adversarial Briefings are meetings involving all agencies in order to test plans and contingencies.

Reason for condition: to promote the objective of preventing crime and disorder

(Annex to Condition 1)

Creamfields – Challenge 21

This document sets out the procedure that will be used for enforcing Challenge 21 policy whereby persons who appear to be under the age of 21 are challenged to produce ID to prove their age.

Persons who are challenged as they look under the age of 21 but who can prove they are over the age of 18 will be issued with a plastic, non-transferable wristband which they can wear throughout the event.

Operating Procedure

1. The event is promoted for 18s and over on all literature.

2. All event goers are urged to bring ID with them.

3. At the event entrances the Terms and Conditions state that only 18’s and over may enter.

4. By each of the event entrances, staff will be identifying people who appear under the age of 21 and will advise them that they need to show ID proving their age so that they can enter the show. Upon showing their ID to the Challenge 21 member of staff, the customer will receive a wristband directly from that member of staff and will be able to proceed into the event. The wristband will show the bar staff that they are of legal age to purchase alcohol.

5. If someone is denied entry on the grounds of appearing under 21 without having ID to prove otherwise, they will have their ticket confiscated and be advised they will not be allowed into the show.

6. If this person is under the age of 16 they will be escorted to a Welfare Facility from where their parents can be called to advise them that their child is at the event and needs collecting.

7. All staff will be briefed to continually look out for persons who appear to be under the age of 21.

8. If someone appears to be under the age of 21 and does have ID on them, they will be allowed into the event having first been advised of the principles of Challenge 21. They will be advised to always carry ID with them for future events and they will be issued with a coloured plastic, non-transferable wristband that they can produce when purchasing alcohol.

9. At each bar there will be signs and Challenge 21 literature explaining the need for ID if you look under 21.

10. Each Bar Manager will brief staff before the event starts about the Guidelines of Challenge 21 and the rules that are being implemented at the event.

11. All Security at each bar area will also be briefed to prevent those looking under the age of 21 who do not have a wristband from entering into the bar queuing lanes.

Condition 8:

All activities, structures, stages and facilities shall be positioned in the fields numbered 9238, 6842, 0064 and 8868 and sited in the position indicated in the plan submitted with this application dated 14/04/2009. No changes shall be made to this indicative siting without prior permission in writing from the Operational Director (Environment & Regulatory Services) or the Divisional Manager (Environmental Health, Building Control & Enforcement).