Agenda and minutes

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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 or exempt items.

The meeting was a hearing under the Licensing Act 2003.

The Chair introduced the members of the Sub Committee and the Officers present.

The Sub Committee’s Legal Advisor, Giles Salter, outlined the procedure for the meeting.

The Sub Committee considered the application for the grant of a new premises licence at Poltimore House, Poltimore, Exeter EX4 0AU.

The applicant (Poltimore House Trust), present and entitled to make representations, was represented by Dr Peter Totterdill.  Dr Totterdill was accompanied by Rosemary Exton (Poltimore House Trustee) and Dave Lee (Designated Premises Supervisor).

The interested persons, present and entitled to make representations, were James Westoby and Susan Westoby.

The Licensing Manager summarised the application as set out in the report and highlighted that the Police, having raised a representation, had reached an agreed position with the applicant which was set out at Appendix G of the report.

Environmental Health had contacted the applicant during the consultation process and the applicant had then provided a noise management plan and an example of an event management plan, as shown as Appendix I of the report.  On that basis, Environmental Health had not raised a representation.

Two representations had been received from local residents based on all four of the licensing objectives.  Poltimore House Trust had attempted mediation with the objectors.  A statement from the objectors had been received subsequent to the publication of the agenda papers and had been circulated to the Sub Committee in advance of the hearing.

In response to a question from the Sub Committee, it was confirmed that events at Poltimore House were currently regulated through temporary event notices.

There were no questions for the Licensing Manager from the applicant’s representative or from the interested persons.  It was noted that Poltimore House is a Grade II* listed building.

The applicant’s representative made the case for the application and highlighted the following points:

·        In recent years the Poltimore House Trustees Board had sought to develop a sustainable plan for the future and build a professional board of trustees with good governance structures;

·        It was a priority to secure a sustainable income source for the trust;

·        Demand for the café had exceeded expectations and the café had been established as a separate company, popular with both local people and tourists;

·        Opportunities for local employment were being created;

·        The purpose of the application was to enable the café and farm shop to sell alcohol during normal business hours and also during regular evening events held at both the café and the outdoor arena;

·        Should the application be granted, this would replace the need to repeatedly apply for temporary event notices and enable the Board of Trustees to expand the current offer;

·        The Board of Trustees had introduced an events management process in order to ensure that events operated in accordance with agreed criteria.

Responses to questions from the Sub Committee included the following points:

·        Prior to the fire in 2024, events had been held in Poltimore House.  Since then greater use had been made  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.