Agenda item

An application for a Premises Licence in respect of International Market, 79A Willenhall Road, Wolverhampton, WV1 2HW was considered following representations received from the Licensing Authority and Trading Standards.

The Chair led round-table introductions and outlined the procedure to be followed. All parties confirmed that they understood the procedure.

Anita Chonk, Licensing and Compliance Officer, provided an outline of the application. Mr Tahseen Aziz, applicant, confirmed that the summary provided was accurate.

The Chair invited the Applicant to present the application.

Mr Tahseen Aziz did so as per Appendix 1 of the report. He explained that the business was currently operating as a convenience store and he wanted to expand the business further by selling alcohol.

The Chair afforded all parties present the opportunity to question Mr Aziz in relation to his submission.

Mr Aziz responded to questions asked.

The Chair invited the Licensing Authority to make representations. Mrs Elaine Moreton, Section Leader Licensing, did so as per Appendix 3 of the report.

The Chair afforded all parties present the opportunity to question the Licensing Authority in relation to its submission. Elaine Moreton responded to questions asked.

The Chair invited Trading Standards to make representations. Mr Paul Dosanjh, Service Lead Trading Standards, did so as per Appendix 4 of the report.

The Chair afforded all parties present the opportunity to question Trading Standards in relation to its submission. Paul Dosanjh responded to questions asked.

The Chair invited all parties present to make their final address.

Mr Dosanjh, Mrs Moreton and Mr Aziz made a final statement.

All interested parties, with the exception of the Solicitor and the Democratic Services Officer, withdrew from the meeting to enable the Sub-Committee to determine the matter.

All interested parties were invited back to the meeting and the Chair advised them of the decision of the Sub-Committee, which was read out by the Solicitor.

Resolved:

The Statutory Licensing Sub-Committee had taken note of all written concerns raised in respect of the application for a premises licence for International Market, 79A Willenhall Road, Wolverhampton, WV1 2HW. They had listened to the arguments of those who had spoken at the hearing, both for and against the application.

The Sub-Committee had considered the written and spoken representations from the Applicant, the Licensing Authority as Responsible Authority and Trading Standards as Responsible Authority.

They heard from the Applicant that he had experience of working in a shop but no working experience of managing a convenience store; that he had taken over the shop and wished to build it up again; that currently he was only selling food, household items and soft drinks, and that he wanted the licence to sell alcohol and cigarettes.

They heard from Mrs Moreton on behalf of the Licensing Authority that the application whilst meeting the statutory test for an application was not filled in correctly, left a lot to be desired and was not fit for purpose and she invited the Sub-Committee to reject the application if the application was not withdrawn by the Applicant.

They heard from Mr Dosanjh on behalf of Trading Standards that whilst some things such as Challenge 25 had been included in the application and the Applicant had managed to flesh out some understanding at the hearing today, that the application in its current form was not sufficient to convince Trading Standards that the Applicant had the operational knowledge to uphold the licencing objectives. In addition, the Trading Standards concerns regarding any association with former owners (involved in illicit tobacco sales and unlicensed sale of alcohol) had not been clarified sufficiently.

In considering all of the submissions and all of the circumstances of the application, the legislation and the s182 guidance, the Sub-Committee were not satisfied that the application in its current form was sufficient to demonstrate that the Applicant would be able to uphold the licensing objectives.

The Licensing Sub-Committee’s decision was therefore to reject the application.

All parties have a right of appeal to the Magistrates Court within 21 days of receipt of the decision.

A copy of the written decision would be forwarded to all parties.