Agenda item

The purpose of the item was to determine an application under the Police, Factories etc. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916 for a Street Collection Permit to permit a collection outside the terms of the Council’s policy.

The Chair introduced the members of the Sub Committee and the officers in attendance.

The applicant, Mr Rafferty for the Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub CIC, was present.

The Legal Advisor, Giles Salter, outlined the procedure to be followed.

The Licensing Manager, Phillippa Norsworthy, presented the report which outlined the application for multiple street collections across a number of dates between 6^th July and 28^th September 2024 to be held at Millennium Walk, Sidmouth.

In response to a question from the Legal Advisor, the Licensing Manager confirmed that the current Street Collections Policy permitted one collection per organisation per year in each of the towns in the East Devon District.  This allowed time to be shared between organisations and prevented saturation.  The policy also allowed for exceptional circumstances to be considered by the Licensing & Enforcement Committee or Sub Committee.

In response to a question from the Sub Committee, the Licensing Manager advised that most applications for Sidmouth are for street collections in the town centre and not at Millenium Walk, which is some distance away.

The applicant addressed the Sub Committee and advised that the dates set out in the application were primarily for events to raise awareness and share information about the project to provide a disability ramp at Chit Rocks, Sidmouth.  The organisers, Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub, were of the view that the events would also be a good opportunity for the public to donate to the project which was included in the Sidmouth Beach Management Plan, and which would benefit both residents and visitors to Sidmouth.

The applicant also advised that he would be happy to hold the events between 10am and 6pm in line with the hours specified in the Street Collections Policy, rather than the hours set out in the application.

There were no questions from the Sub Committee for the applicant.

The Chair thanked the applicant for attending and advised that the Sub Committee would retire to make its decision which would be notified within five working days.

The applicant left the meeting.