Eagle Service Station

My first experience of licensing committee was interesting but not very satisfactory.  A significant number of residents attended and wanted to speak.  Unlike planning committee, there were several pre-meetings going on with negotiations taking place right up to the last minute.  The applicant offered to reduce the time for the alcohol licence down to 7 in the morning till 11pm which is an improvement but the residents weren't happy with the idea of alcohol being sold there anyway.  All 3 ward councillors agreed that we didn't need or want another alcohol outlet in the area but I felt it important to say that if the committee did allow a licence they should make sure that the conditions included something to allow a check that the premises are definitely operating as a convenience store with fuel as an ancillary sale, rather than the other way round.
An offer from the agent's solicitor to talk to residents before the meeting was met with interest by some but anger by others.  Residents used to the openness of planning procedures didn't like the apparent secretiveness of licensing, with meetings of little groups of people going on around them in an effort to iron out the problems before the hearing.  I, too, found it very strange and felt uncomfortable.  I felt it was no wonder that people thought "it's a done deal". 
In the end, after a great deal of input from the floor, the licensing sub-committee adjourned and will make their decision in the next few days.  It seems that they want some further information or legal clarifications.  So we have to wait and see what happens.

Planning & Licensing

These are the two quasi-judicial committees of the council, making decisions about things that directly affect individuals and businesses rather than about policies that affect the whole borough or sections of it.  Stockton council, rightly in my opinion, insists that members should be trained in how to make these decisions properly in accordance with the law etc.  So today saw me sitting in a rather stuffy room with a couple of dozen other councillors being trained in Town & Country planning for the 9th year running.  I won't be sitting on Planning committee regularly but might occasionally substitute so training duly done.
Licensing on the other hand is something in which I have very little training, but the last few days have proved a steep learning curve.  The approach is very different - in this case it's perfectly OK to have meetings with the applicant in an effort to reach agreement before the committee sits.  And so tonight I went along to the Eagle Service Station in order to hear what the applicant had to say.  I discovered that they've reached agreement with the police on a licence for reduced hours (7 in the morning till midnight) instead of the 24 hours a day previously asked for.  But ward councillors and neighbours haven't been notified of that.  The applicant does seem genuinely interested in keeping problems away from his business so if the licence is awarded tomorrow morning we'll be trying to work with him and the police to try to make sure that problems don't arise from it.  It'll be an interesting experience to attend a licensing meeting for the first time, and to be able to represent residents directly.  Very different to 8 years on Planning committee.