Agenda and minutes

Noting that apologies for absence had been received from the three Members appointed to the Sub-Committee, thereby including the Chairman (Councillor R Leach) and Vice-Chairman (Councillor S Hussain), Councillor L Rice was elected Chairman of the Sub-Committee for the meeting.

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Sub-Committee A held on 9 August 2023 as published.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the Sub-Committee held on 9 August 2023 be approved and signed as a true and correct record.

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary and other interests from Members in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.

There were no Declarations of Interest.

To consider any business that the Chairman rules may be dealt with under Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no items of Urgent Business.

Reporting Person – Matthew Cobb

The Sub-Committee had before it a report regarding an application for a transfer of a Premises Licence and Variation of a Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) for Premier Wych Hill (Londis), Aberdeen House, Wych Hill, for which an objection had been received from Surrey Police.  Jeremy Phillips of Counsel, Lesley Sumner and Ryan Scott attending the meeting to represent Surrey Police.  Sutharsine Perayeravan, the Applicant and Owner of the premises, attended the meeting alongside Suresh Kanapathi of ARKA Licensing.

All parties present had a copy of the Licensing Committee’s agreed procedure to be followed at Licensing Sub-Committee hearings. 

The Licensing Authority’s representative, Matthew Cobb, summarised the report that was before the Sub-Committee, stating that the application was to:

·      transfer of the Premises Licence to Mrs Sutharsine Perayeravan; and

·      change the Designated Premises Supervisor to Mr Navaratnam Pathmilan.  

Mr Cobb stated that the objection received from Surrey Police was based on the belief that neither proposed person would uphold the licensing objectives.  Following the passing of the ownership of the store to Mrs Perayeravan on 24 May 2023 and the surrender of the Premises Licence on 28 July 2023 by the previous holder, the premises had continued to sell alcohol until 22 August 2023, the date the application to transfer the licence had been submitted, and had failed a test purchase for sale of alcohol to a minor undertaken by Surrey Police on 17 August 2023.  In addition, the Applicant had advised the Licensing department that no alcohol had been on-sale between the dates of 28 July 2023 and 22 August 2023.

In addition, on 11 September 2023 following discussion with the Police, the Applicant had submitted a minor variation to add further conditions to the licence, if agreed by the Sub-Committee.  The variation was noted to be an entirely separate application and would only come into force if the Sub-Committee granted the two requests set out above.

None of the parties present had any questions for Mr Cobb.

The Chairman gave the Applicant the opportunity to address the Sub-Committee.  Mr Kanapathi advised that Mrs Perayeravan had taken over ownership of the business on 24 May 2023 with an agreement from the previous licence holder to support the business for a period of three months.  However this commitment had not been fulfilled due to illness of the previous holder.  It was stated the reason for the surrender of the licence on 28 July 2023 was unknown and once the Applicant had become aware, contact was made with ARKA Licensing for support.  The sale of alcohol to a minor was described as very unfortunate, with the member of staff on duty claiming that he had fallen asleep beforehand.  Mr Kanapathi stated that a meeting had been held with Surrey Police following the incident.  It was stated that the trading environment was difficult for the business and a month loss of circa £1,000 was currently being incurred, however the business would seek to uphold the licensing objectives.  The Sub-Committee was urged to approve  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.