Agenda and minutes

Apologies have been received from Cllr Mockford and Cllr Anthea Lea is substituting.

The procedure the Licensing Panelwillfollowin considering the application is set outin the Licensing Act2003,its attendantRegulations and was agreed by the Licensing Committee on 2nd February2005.  The Licensing Panel,in accordance with rule 14 of the Licensing Act2003 (Hearings)Regulations 2005 decide to exclude the public fromallorpartof the hearing where the Licensing Panelconsiders thatitis in the public interestto do so.

None.

The minutes of the meeting held on 1 July 2022 were agreed as a correct record and were signed by the Chairman.

Introduction and outline of the report

Jon Bryant, Senior Licensing Officer introduced the report for the Panel to determine an application for a Premises Licence pursuant to Section 17 Licensing Act 2003 made by Mr Robin Langton, Managing Director of the Highweald Winery Wine Estate and noted that five members of the public who are also local residents, referred to as Interested Parties had made representations on the grounds of the Prevention of a Public Nuisance.The Panel were asked to determine the application in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003, MSDC Licensing Policy and the Home Office Guidance issued under Section 182 Licensing Act 2003, whilst having due regard to the applicant’s submissions and relevant representations.

The Senior Licensing Officer advised that Highweald Wine Estate, off Deaks Lane, Ansty is set in approximately 100 acres with an onsite office/vineyard store building and winery.  The application was to licence an area containing the Winery and the new shop/garden bar; the applicant intends that alcohol will be consumed in the shop/garden bar as tasting samples, as part of a planned tour of the vineyard and the provision of on and off sales.  He highlighted that the tours do not constitute a licensable activity.  The application seeks to supply alcohol, on and off the premises Monday to Sunday 11 am to 9pm, with the same opening hours.  Due to issues advertising the application, an amendment and re-submission, the application was extended and concluded on 1 December 2022.  The application was correctly advertised on site and in The Mid Sussex Times. 15 representations were received but not accepted as they did not address the licensing objectives; a further representation was also excluded for the same reason.  Representations from five Interested Parties were relevant and all relate to the Prevention of a Public Nuisance; he confirmed that no representations have been received from the Responsible Authorities. 

During the consultation period Mr Langton asked for additional information to be passed to the Interested Parties and offered to meet them: he confirmed there would be no piped or recorded music outside, they would not accept buses or coaches loud or raucous behaviour would not be accepted. Most clientele would be couples as they are a luxury brand and offer a high-end experience.  The agent had confirmed to the Licensing Team that any music would be background music; the Officer noted that this would not be regulated entertainment.  The high-end clientele would be low risk. To mitigate noise the applicant had planted some mature trees, and more would be planted along with some hedging, they offered two additional conditions which were listed in Appendix 10 and the email was in Appendix 2. The Panel were reminded that some information in the representations were not relevant to the applicant as they referred to: the operating hours and the certificate of lawful development, planning consents, highway matters, site access, the rural location of the site and potential light pollution. In determining the application, the Panel should only consider the  ...  view the full minutes text for item LS.4