Agenda and minutes

Councillor Hetherton was appointed Chair for the meeting.

There were no apologies.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider an application to review the Premises Licence at Feast Junction (t/a Club Junction), Hertford Place, CV1 3JZ.

Note: The applicant and their representative have been invited to attend the

  hearing.

  Persons who have made representations have been invited to attend.

The City Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy is available on the Council’s website. Alternatively, please contact us if you require a hard copy.

The Sub-Committee considered an application to review the premises licence in respect of Feast Junction (trading as Club Junction), Hertford Place, Coventry, CV1 3JZ. The Review application was made by West Midlands Police on the grounds that they have failed to uphold the four Licensing Objections: the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance and the protection of children from harm.

West Midlands Police, as the Review Applicant, began by explaining to the Sub Committee that Club Junction had opened in March 2017. Due to concerns raised at the time of the initial application by the Responsible Authorities about the premises close proximity to Club  M, a number of conditions were agreed by the Licence Holder in order to satisfy the Responsible Authorities that the four licensing objectives would be upheld.

The Police stated that there had been a persistent failure by the Licence Holder to adhere to the conditions placed on the licence, including a failure to keep relevant documentation, such as an incident refusals log, failure to implement and enforce Challenge 25, failure to carry out risk assessments and notify Police of events so that appropriate resources could be put in place, and a failure to implement CCTV that could be accessed by West Midlands Police upon request. The review application was supported by Environmental Health who explained that a number of noise complaints had been reported, mostly as a result of the failure to install a noise limiting device and keep doors and windows shut at all times, both of which were conditions of the licence.

The Police detailed that they had experienced great difficulty in getting the Licence Holder or DPS to engage, and all meetings to discuss the management of the premises were instigated by Police. It was further explained that the best venues in the city work closely with the Police and go above and beyond to ensure that the night time economy is safe. In this instance, the Police considered the basic legal requirements were persistently being breached as a result of lack of understanding or contempt.

It was noted by the Police that the Licence Holder had now produced some lengthy documentation detailing the policies that could be implemented to satisfy the Responsible Authorities that the premises can be managed lawfully. However, the Police conceded that the relationship with the Licence Holder and DPS had completely broken down and they had no confidence that any promises made or conditions agreed to would be forthcoming. Further, the Police highlighted that it should not have taken them to call for a review for this documentation to be put in place.

In support of the application, Environmental Health explained their concerns that the DPS demonstrated a lack of understanding during meetings as to licensing law, what time the premises should be closing, how he should go about asking DJ’s to keep their noise at an appropriate level etc. A meeting took place between Environmental Health and the DPS in April  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To consider any other items of business which the Chair decides to take as a matter of urgency because of the special circumstances involved.

There were no other items of business.