Agenda and draft minutes

To appoint a Chair for the meeting

Councillor Norman was appointed Chair for the meeting.

Chair to arrange introductions and to explain the procedure to be followed during the meeting

Members of the Sub-Committee, Officers and interested persons present introduced themselves and the Chair outlined the procedure to be followed during the meeting.

No declarations were made on this occasion.

To receive the report of the Head of Public Protection

Licensing Officer’s Report

The Licensing and Enforcement Officer presented his report which invited the Sub-Committee to consider an application under Section 34 of the Licensing Act 2003 by Masood Ahmad Shamsi to vary an existing premises licence for Zam Zam Pizza and Fried Chicken. 144 Eastgate Street.

He outlined the background to the application and the detail of the variation applied for detailed at paragraph 3.5 of the report. He drew Members’ attention to the non-standard hours requested for Bank Holidays, Christmas and New Year’s Eve to match the Friday and Saturday hours requested.

He noted that a representation had been received from Gloucestershire Constabulary that was contained in Appendix 3 of the report. He noted that additional documents had been received from the Constabulary and copies had been sent to the Applicant and Members.

There were no questions of the Officer.

The Applicant’s Representative

Mr Alex Clennett, on behalf of the Applicant Masood Ahmad Shamsi, stated that the Applicant had been operating in excess of the hours permitted by his existing licence and he wished to be granted the same hours as other businesses in the locality.

Mr Clennett admitted that there had been disorder issues associated with the premises and the Applicant believed that the result of the recent EU referendum had affected his business as he had experienced some anti-foreigner attitudes.

Mr Clennett stated that the Applicant had questioned why it was safe for other businesses to operate longer hours when it was not considered safe for him to operate those hours.

He stated that the staff employed on the premises were well trained in security issues. He cited a number of premises in the locality which operated longer hours than those currently permitted for Zam Zam.

He referred to the Police representation and refuted the suggestion that any extension of licensing hours in the area would have an adverse effect on crime and disorder and public nuisance.

He believed that it would help to have all premises operating the same hours as the businesses would then be able to help each other. People leaving other premises would not have to wait so long for food orders which could be a cause of trouble.

Councillor Pullen asked if the Applicant would employ door staff if the conditions on the licence required them. Mr Clennett stated that staff were trained how to deal with situations but stated that if it was a requirement of the licence the Applicant would have to employ door staff.

The Chair asked if Mr Clennett was able to comment on the attitude to the Police demonstrated by staff at the premises on 7 August. Mr Clennett was not able to comment but stated that many problems arose when customers were waiting for food orders after hours.

The Food, Licensing and Markets Manager asked if the premises was a member of City Safe. Mr Mansfield was able to confirm that they were not.

There were no questions of Mr Clennett from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.