Agenda and draft minutes

Item 3: County Councillor A. Easson declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest as a Ward Member in Caldicot as the application related to a premises in Newport Road, Caldicot.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced Members of the Sub Committee and the attending officers.  The Principal Licensing Officer explained the protocol for the meeting.

•        The Applicant attended in person.

•        Principal Licensing Officer

•        Licensing Officer

•        An objector and companion attended in person.

All confirmed sight of the report and the committee procedure. 

The Licensing and Regulatory Sub Committee considered an application for a new Premises Licence under the Licensing Act 2003 for Caldicot Store and Post Office, Unit 4, Holman House, 36-38 Newport Road, Caldicot to sell alcohol between the hours of 07:00 and 21:00 (the shop opening hours).

The Licensing Officer presented the report and outlined the steps the applicant would take to promote the licensing objectives.  These included staff training, ID verification, fire safety measures, incident logbook, noise management plan and community engagement (the full list is in Appendix A).  The report appendices also included a map, a list of mandatory conditions, responses from statutory authorities, representations from other persons, Police incident log and Licensing Objectives.

The Sub Committee were advised that the representations from other persons could be summarised that granting the licence could increase anti-social behaviour in the area that could cause damage to other businesses, also potentially threaten the safety of members of the public and staff.

The Licensing authority requested statistics on antisocial behaviour in the Caldicot area from Gwent Police. The statistics cover the whole Caldicot area not specific to the town centre. Between August 2023 and December 2023. There were 35 police logs and between April 2024 and October 2024, there were 31 police logs.

Representations must be received in relation to at least one of the four licensing objectives:

1.     prevention of crime and disorder,

2.     public safety,

3.     prevention of public nuisance, and

4.     protection of children from harm

Section 9.9 of the Guidance issued by the Home Office recommends that, in borderline cases, the benefit of the doubt about any aspect of a representation should be given to the person making that representation. The subsequent hearing by the Licensing Sub Committee would then provide an opportunity for the person or body making the representation to amplify and clarify it.

There were no objections from statutory authorities.  Gwent Police withdrew its representations upon agreement of the conditions should the licence be granted.

The Objector had opportunity to make representations explaining that he is not against granting the licence. Having traded in the town centre for two years and moved opening hours from 6pm to 9pm, it was noticeable that there were lots of young people causing trouble where shops were open and lit.  Window glass has been broken on two occasions and reported to the Police. The School and community has been very helpful in promoting a message that there are consequences to this behaviour.

The Objector’s worry is that a new shop with long opening times will encourage young people to congregate again and levels of antisocial behaviour will rise again.  The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.