Agenda item

LSC.09/23         

The Sub-Committee considered a report that sought to determine an application for a variation to the premises licence of The Crabshell Inn, Embankment Road, Kingsbridge, TQ7 1JZ in accordance with Section 35 of the Licensing Act 2003.

The Principal Licensing Officer introduced the report and outlined the details of the application (as stated in the application form at Appendices A(i), A(ii), B(i), B(ii), C and D and additional information.  The Principal Licensing Officer reminded the Sub-Committee that its decision had to be based upon the four licensing objectives.

1.         Address by the Applicant

This was a nicely appointed pub on the water with a relatively small bar at the rear of the premises which gets busy on sunny days.  The shepherd’s hut would be an additional dispense point serving up to 4 draughts beers, soft drinks, a small selection of spirits and a pizza oven and would not increase the footprint.  The pub was owned and operated by St Austell Brewery.  They very infrequently had to ask someone to leave, and the responsible authorities did not object to the application.  A primary concern was the proximity of the pub to the car park and public safety issues, and it was highlighted that a lot of pubs were in the proximity of a car park.  They were happy to propose a condition to use planters in the car park to protect members of the public.  Planning permission for the shepherd’s hut had been refused and until this was granted cannot operate.  They have an excellent relationship with the neighbour, and they raised no issues or concerns and neighbours across the water raised no objections.  The pizza oven was unlikely to cause a public nuisance.  This was a significant pub in the area and currently not causing any problems.

(The Sub Committee then adjourned, in the presence of the Monitoring Officer, and Senior Democratic Services Officer at 3.19 pm to consider the application and reconvened at 3.38 pm.)

2.         The Decision

In announcing the Sub-Committee decision, the following statement was read:

We have considered the Statement of Licensing Policy, the government guidance and our obligations that relate to the promotion of the licensing objectives.

We have read carefully the written representations from all parties, plus additional statements from persons here today.

It is our decision to:

GRANT the application subject to the condition proffered by the applicant that operation under this licence will only take place once planning approval has been obtained. Further we would incorporate the inclusion of planters, again as proffered by the applicant, for protection of customers in the immediate vicinity of the servery from vehicles in the car park.

The reasons for our decision are as follows:

We believe that the additional servery facility will result in only limited changes to the existing use of the external areas of the premises and therefore supports the licensing objectives and council licensing policy.  We would remind the applicant that should changes in the use of external areas result in additional nuisance, noise or detriment to public safety the council may review the licence or its conditions.

The full written decision would be sent out within five working days.