Agenda and minutes

To appoint a Chairman of the Sub-Committee for the meeting.

Councillor B. Fitzsimon had been appointed Chairman for this meeting.

Report of the Corporate Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance) considering an application for a variation of premises licence at the Rose and Crown Public House, 14 Church Street, Welwyn.

Introduction and Procedure

The purpose of the meeting was to consider an application for the variation of premises licence for the Rose and Crown Public House, 14 Church Street Welwyn AL6 9LX.  The report noted that the premises is located in the central location within Welwyn village and is bordered at the rear by a residential Cul de sac.

The Licence is held by Punch Partnerships (PTL) Ltd and the application was received on 22 December 2020.  The variation application has since been amended by the applicant after a number of written relevant representation were submitted.

The Sub-Committee was advised that 26 written representations had been received against the variation application on grounds of preventing public nuisance and preventing crime and disorder.  Most of the residents who have submitted representations live very close or border The Rose and Crown and all are against the variation application.  A map illustrating the location of nearby properties had been made available to the Sub-Committee.

Documentary Evidence

A copy of the Licensing Officer’s report, the premises licence, resident’s written representation, application for review of the license and a site location map had previously been circulated.

Report of the Licensing Officer

The Licensing Officer presented his report on an application which had been received from the Applicant under the Licensing Act 2003 for a variation of the premises license. The Licence Hearing was a result of the Council receiving 26 formal written representations against the proposed variation within the consultation period.  The representations have been received on the grounds of a) prevention of public nuisance; b) prevention of crime and disorder.

The amended and current application to vary the Licence is as follows:

1. To change the Premises Plans to include the rear Barn/Annexe building
2. To add Late night refreshment
3. To change to opening times for the Public House building only to 0800hrs daily
4. To Extend the hours for the sale of Alcohol for the Public House building only on Fridays and Saturdays to midnight
5. To extend the Closing time on Fridays and Saturdays for the Public house building only to 0030hrs
6. The Barn/Annexe building would adopt the current times of the current Premises Licence.

The Licensing Officer advised that 24 objections were from residents living in close proximity to the premises and the other representations were from Environmental Health, Welwyn Parish Council (WPC withdrew their representation before the meeting) and the Welwyn Planning and Amenities Group. These representations were judged as appropriate and therefore brought to the Licensing Sub Committee to be determined. The representations were included within the agenda pack at Appendix C and D.

It was noted that other matters such as parking difficulties could not be taken into consideration as these did not fall under the licensing objective subject of this hearing. Most representatives mentioned previous historic issues of public nuisance and crime and disorder primarily drunken behaviour, criminal damage, fighting and bad language.

The Sub-Committee noted that The Rose and Crown Premises licence number PA 26921 allowed for the sale of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.