Agenda item

Agenda item

Application for the Renewal of a Sex Shop Establishment Licence

The Head of Community Services has submitted a report to consider the application for the renewal of a Sex Establishment Licence: Private Shop, 54

Cowley Road, Oxford.

Minutes:

The Head of Community Services had submitted a report to inform the determination  of an application submitted by Darker Enterprises Ltd  for the renewal of a Sex Establishment Licence for its premises at 54 Cowley Road.

 

The Licensing Officer introduced the report. The shop had been first licensed in 2003 and had held a licence without revocation or refusal since that date.  Two representations had been received in response to the application which made particular reference to the location of the shop as potential grounds for refusal of the licence. He drew attention to the parts of the report which detailed the legislation governing the issue of such licences.

 

In response to questions from the Sub-Committee he confirmed that: there had been no complaints in relation to this establishment; no objections from Thames Valley Police to the application; officers visited the premises 3 times a year to ensure compliance with the conditions of the licence;  the shop fulfilled its responsibility to notify the Council when it employed new members of staff.

 

Neither the Applicant nor the objectors were present at the meeting.  The Applicant had however submitted a letter for consideration by the Sub-Committee. The letter explained that representatives of the Applicant were unable to attend because of inclement weather. It went on to draw the Sub-Committee’s attention to the minutes of a hearing of the City Council’s Licensing and Registration Sub-Committee held on 20 August 2013, at which it had been agreed to renew the licence for this premises. These minutes set out the grounds for agreeing to the licence on that occasion.

 

In the absence of a further contribution from either Applicant or objectors the Sub-Committee moved to make a determination.

 

Decision and reason

 

The Sub-Committee noted the legal advice that it could not take into account any moral objections and that the Applicant was entitled to have the application granted unless any of the statutory grounds for refusal were met.

It had been noted that  the premises had been licensed since 2003 when licensing powers were adopted in Oxford and had first opened in 1981 when there was no requirement to be licensed. There was no record of complaints or incidents concerning the premises during this time and the licence had been reviewed annually since 2003.

 

It had been noted that Thames Valley Police had raised no objections to the application.

 

It had been noted that the premises would be subject to conditions and regularly inspected by officers to  ensure compliance with them.

 

The Sub-Committee had no reason to believe that there had been any significant change in the character of the area since the last issue of a licence.

The  Sub-Committee noted the reference by the objectors to the Bullfinch case. However there was no evidence to link the premises with the case and no reason to believe that they were in any way connected.

 

The Sub-Committee noted that on this occasion only two objections had been received.

 

The Sub-Committee was not satisfied that any of the statutory grounds for refusal had been met. The Applicant was therefore entitled to have his application for renewal granted.

 

The Sub-Committee resolved to:

 

Grant the licence applied for, subject to the Oxford City Council standard conditions applicable to sex shop licenses.

 

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