The following people were present at the meeting:-

On behalf of the Applicant

Alistair Thompson (Owner of the premises)

Gerald Gouriet QC (Counsel for the Applicant)

Craig Baylis (Solicitor for the Applicant)

Interested Parties

Jon Payne (Solicitor for the Christian Legal Centre and St Ebbes Parochial Church Council)

Libby Blaxall, Antoinette Okoiye, Cara Foster, Charlotte Hovell, Jannine Nicholas (Christian Legal Centre)

Dr Jonathan West

Barbara Hudson

Catriona Watson

Margaret Madden (SENDRA)

Matthew Pope

Annabelle Heywood

Rebecca Williams

Ruth Underwood

Councillor Oscar Van Nooijen

Two of the members tonight are reserve members of this Sub Committee. Because of this, the Sub Committee is asked to elect a Chair for this meeting only.

The Chair and Vice Chair for the Council Year 2011/2012 will be elected at the next meeting.

Two of the members of the Sub Committee were reserve members, and because of this, it was agreed to elect a Chair for the meeting tonight.

The Chair and Vice Chair of the Sub Committee for the Council year 2011/2012 would be elected at the next meeting.

Resolved to elect Councillor Mary Clarkson as Chair for this meeting.

None given.

Guidance note is attached.

None made

The Head of Environmental Development has submitted a report (attached) concerning an application for a Sexual Entertainment Venue Licence at the premises known as “The Coven”, Oxpens Road.

The Sub Committee is asked to:-

(1)   Hear representations from the parties;

(2)   Consider all relevant information, including written representations;

(3)   Determine the application.

The Head of Environmental Development submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) concerning an application for a Sexual Entertainment Venue Licence (SEV) for the premises currently known as The Coven, Oxpens Road, Oxford.

Mr Gerald Gouriet QC (Counsel for the Applicant) made an application to formally amend the start time of the proposed sexual entertainment from 21.00hrs to 23.00hrs.

Allan Hibberd (Licensing Officer) introduced the report and drew attention to the amended start time of 23.00hrs for sexual entertainment. The following representations were then made:-

For the Applicant

Mr Gouriet presented the case for the Applicant, as follows:-

Hours of operation.

The proposed hours for sexual entertainment would be 23.00hours to 05.00hours the following day, Monday to Saturday.  It was hoped that this would avoid an overlap of hours of operation with other facilities in the area.

Crime and disorder

The club ran as The Lodge in Pennyfarthing Place for 18 months. It was significant that Thames Valley Police had not made an objection to the current application, and that they had done so in full knowledge of how The Lodge was run.

Many of the letters of objection to the current application referred to problems presently experienced at The Coven premises. These included noise, drug use, drunken anti-social behaviour and the unsightly nature of the premises at present. However, the current application would lead to an improvement in the area, should if be granted. It was generally acknowledged that lap dancing clubs caused the Police less concern than standard nightclubs. Fears of nuisance and crime and disorder had been raised, but it was important to remember that the licence was for one year and could be refused in the future if those fears were realised.

Customer Profile

At present there was a problem with queues at The Coven. This would not happen should the licence be granted. It should be noted that the customer profile at a lap dancing club was markedly different from that of a nightclub. Patrons of a lap dancing club did not queue to get in, the entertainment was client specific, and people arrived and left at different times during the evening. Nor would there be an issue with noisy music. A lap dancing club had a more exclusive clientele, drinks were quite costly, and music was not loud in order to allow audible conversation.

Appearance and location of the Premises

Should the licence be granted, a considerable sum of money (£100,000) would be spent upon improving the appearance of the building.

The Sub Committee was invited to impose a condition requiring that the premises be neutral in appearance, with no indication that the premises was a lap dancing club. The Sub Committee had control over the appearance of the club.

The Applicant had tried hard to find an appropriate site for the venue. It was submitted that it would be hard to find a better site than this one, which had a coach park next to it and a garage and warehouses close by.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Minutes of the meeting held on 29^th March 2011 attached.

Resolved to confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 29^th March 2011.

If the Sub Committee wishes to exclude the press and the public from the meeting during consideration of any aspects of the preceding agenda items it will be necessary for the Sub Committee to pass a resolution in accordance with the provisions of Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 specifying the grounds on which their presence could involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as described in specific paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act if and so long, as in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

None