Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Sub-Committee A held on 26 September 2023 as published.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the Sub-Committee held on 26 September 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 a Notice of a Temporary Event from Greenfield School, 182 Old Woking Road, Woking GU22 8HY, for which an objection had been received from Environmental Health.  Alexandra Houghton and Meg Gardiner Boiling attended the meeting as the Applicant to represent Greenfield School.  Janine Knighton attended the meeting as the Objector to represent Environmental Health.

All parties present had a copy of the Licensing Committee’s agreed procedure to be followed at Licensing Sub-Committee hearings.  The Chairman introduced Members of the Sub-Committee and outlined the order of speaking which would be followed at the hearing.

The Licensing Authority’s representative, Matthew Cobb, summarised the report that was before the Sub-Committee, stating a Temporary Event Notice had been received on 2 October 2023 from Alexandra Houghton on behalf of Friends of Greenfield School (the Parent Teacher Association) for a fireworks event to take place at the School on 3 November 2023, which would also include the sale of alcohol and provision of regulated entertainment from 17.00 to 20.00 hours.  An objection from Environmental Health had been received on 2 October 2023 on the grounds of public safety due to the alarm and distress caused to horses and the associated risk of the keepers and the general public should the horses escape and bolt into nearby areas.  The Sub-Committee noted that following publication of the agenda pack, a submission had been received from the School and a video showing distress to a horse during the previous year’s fireworks event and five letters of concern from the owners of horses at Hoebridge Equestrian had been submitted from Environmental Health.

Following questions by the Applicant, it was noted that the intention was to hold a short low noise fireworks display at 18.00 hours and a longer normal display at 18.45 hours, both provided by an external company; and that the expected level of engagement between Applicant and Objector varied on a case by case basis.

The Objector had no questions for Mr Cobb.  Following questions by Members of the Sub-Committee, it was noted that fireworks were covered by national guidance and the Fireworks Regulations 2004, which was Police enforced; and Environmental Health held statutory powers under noise nuisance.

The Applicant was given the opportunity to address the Sub-Committee.  Mrs Gardiner Boiling advised the Committee that the School catered for children aged up to 11 years old and was committed to the local community, having held a number of Temporary Events in the past for which there had been no objections.  The first fireworks event had been held in November 2022 and was stated to have been very successful and enjoyed by the circa 400 people who attended, and the School had followed local and national guidance by providing advance notice to neighbours, including Hoebridge Equestrian.  Following the event, correspondence from the stables had been received to set out the distress caused to the horses, and the School wrote to advise the stables of the steps that had been taken  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.