Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 7 July 2021 were agreed as a correct record.

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There were no declarations of interest.

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There were no matters of urgency.

To agree any items to be dealt with after the public (including the Press) have been excluded. Thereare no itemswhich officersrecommendshould be dealtwithin thisway.

There were no confidential / exempt items.

The Sub Committee considered the application for the grant of a premises licence to allow the provision of regulated entertainment, provision of late night refreshment and the sale of alcohol for consumption ON the premises at ‘Hawkfest’, Hills Farm, Whitford Road, Kilmington, EX13 7NS. The application is to cover the period of 26 – 30 August 2021.  The meeting was a hearing to consider the application for a premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003.

The Chair introduced the members of the Sub Committee.

The applicant, present and entitled to make representations, was Steve Littley, accompanied by Kris Tait of the Hawkfest Event Management Team.

The interested party, present and entitled to make representations was Cllr Peter Ball, Kilmington Parish Council, also representing Richard Quincey, Louise Quincey, John Thorne, Jean Thorne, Simon Buse and Samantha Buse.

There were no representations from any of the responsible bodies.

The Sub Committee’s legal advisor, Giles Salter, outlined the procedure for the meeting.

The Licensing Manager, Steve Saunders, presented his report and summarised the application.  Informal mediation had taken place and none of the representations had been withdrawn.  Interested parties making representations had agreed that Cllr Peter Ball would represent them at the meeting.  There had been no further updates to the report and the appendices since publication prior to the meeting.

In response to a question from a Member, Mr Saunders confirmed that there had not been any previous complaints regarding the premises and its current licence.

The applicant’s case, presented by Kris Tait and Steve Littley, made the following points:

·        The licence application was for up to 1,000 attendees although it was anticipated that attendance would be considerably less

·        Tickets for the event are sold in advance through a fan club website only with no tickets available at the gate

·        The band, Hawkwind, had been in existence for 52 years and the event management team knew the demographic of its fans well.  The majority of those attending the event would be in the 50+ age range and families who had followed the band for many years

·        The event schedule planned for bands to stop at approximately 11pm and the organisers were committed to ensuring that noise levels always remained within agreed levels

·        Directions to the event are provided with tickets and a holding car park would ensure that traffic entering the site would not need to queue on Whitford Road, Kilmington village

·        The event is family orientated with magic shows and other family friendly activities

In response to questions from the Sub Committee, the applicant advised the following:

·        The application sought to license the marquee for up to 1,000 people and once live music had ended in the marquee, late night music would continue in the function room which was sound proofed

·        To date approximately 530 tickets had been sold and tickets are for the whole weekend with no day tickets available

·        An emergency telephone number would be available for local residents during the weekend  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.