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HELD ON TUESDAY 16th October 2007 7.00PM Venue: Viewforth Parish Church Hall CHAIRMAN'S WELCOME The Chairman, Bridget Stevens, welcomed those present, including Ian Clements, Ken Clump, Mairianna Clyde, Michael Dawson (Dublin Street Residents Association), Andy Devenport (Tollcross CC), Ian Doig, Ann Fergus, James Geekie, Cllr Paul Godzik, Mike Holmes, Angela Hull (Tollcross CC), Colwyn Jones, John Lennie, Ann MacDonald, CC), Tricia McLuckie (Tollcross CC), M. Neilson (Tollcross CC), Sherriff Gordon Nicholson, Ben Prowse, David Rintoul (Tollcross CC), Jo Scott (Southside CC), John Simon (MSCC), Jean Smith, W.Y. Strachan, Norman Tinlin (Fairmilehead CC), Chris and Ann Wigglesworth (Tollcross CC), Dr Helen Zealley plus around 10 other members of the general public, including a representative of West End CC. PC Alan Hopper, and John Baillie, Mark Gilhooly and Gordon Hunter from Lothian & Borders Police Licensing Section were in attendance. Discussion on Edinburgh City Council’s Paper on Licensing Policy for Edinburgh 2007-2010 The Chairman introduced Sheriff Principal Gordon Nicholson CBE QC, Chairman of the Committee on Liquor Licensing Law in Scotland, whose report was published in 2003 and led to the enactment of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005. Sherriff Nicholson gave a presentation, outlining the new system of licensing which will come into effect throughout Scotland in 2009. The reason for the time required to implement the Act is that there are 16,000 licensed premises and it will take time for all staff to be trained and also for members of Licensing Boards to be trained. The Act sets out 5 licensing objectives, set out in Section 4 of the Act, which should be borne in mind in considering licensing issues: • Preventing crime and disorder • Securing public safety • Preventing public nuisance • Protecting and improving public health and • Protecting children from harm It was recognised that there has not been adequate control of licensed premises in the past. The 2005 Act will introduce a radically different system of licensing. Each premise will have to be licensed individually, but different premises may be granted licences on different bases. In addition, there will also be system of personal licences to run, to operate and to manage licensed premises. Licensing Boards will be in future require to be more active in monitoring licensed activities. There will be new Licensing Standards Officers; these will have inspection and mediation responsibilities and can report breaches and complaints to the Licensing Board. The Board will have a range of sanctions in cases of problems. In future, all Licensing Boards will be required to produce a local Licensing Policy every 3 years. Licensing also covers theatres, discos and off-licences etc, as well as public houses. The City of Edinburgh Council has published a Draft Statement of Licensing Policy, covering the period from November 2007 to November 2010. This will shape licensing policy throughout Edinburgh and is currently subject to a consultation exercise. Closing date for comments is 26th October (weblink:www.edinburgh.gov.uk/internet/business/licensing). The Licensing Board requires to have its new policy in place by 30th November 2007 and this policy will be applied during a 3 year period to 30th November 2010, when it will be reviewed. The licensing policy should cover, amongst other aspects: • Opening hours policy • Children admission policy • Over-provision policy Membership of the Licensing Board will be drawn from the elected members of the City Council, but with a quite specific remit. Consequently, there must be a clear distinction between the Licensing Board and the City Council and also clear policies to prevent conflicts of interests between members of the 2 bodies. The Chairman stated that controversial licensing issues for Edinburgh include: • Hours - shorter opening hours are proposed, including different opening hours on different days • Capacity and ‘over-capacity’ • Noise and other disturbances • How to define a ‘residential area’ and need for shorter hours in such areas • Smoking policy and arrangements for smoking outside the premises • ‘Vertical drinking establishments’ – i.e. standing only drinking establishments where no seating is provided. Such pubs could accommodate 2 to 3 times the number of drinkers. There are potential anti-social behaviour implications of large numbers of drinkers spilling out noisily into the streets late at night. There are also Health and Safety implications of large numbers of people leaving pubs at the same time, after having consumed alcohol. The Chairman then opened up the discussion for questions and comments, which were answered by Sheriff Nicholson. Questions included: • What information will be available when the Licensing Board considers an application? • Will information provided by publican when applying for a licence be speculative or a binding condition of the licence? • What would constitute valid grounds for appeal by a local resident with a complaint about a licence or a breach of its conditions? • What are the implications of the Human Rights Act and European Law? i.e. a licence should be considered a conditional permission, not an absolute right. Residents should be entitled to ‘peaceful enjoyment’ of their home, family life and unbroken sleep. Presumption should be in the favour of residents, not in favour of licensees, as has been the case until now. • Will a list be open for public scrutiny, showing details of opening hours, rules for admission of children etc? Members of the public and Community Councils have found dealing with the Licensing Board and the Licensing Department has been very difficult under the previous regime; lists of licensed premises were not available and notifications of applications for licensing were not well publicised. In future, information on the conditions under which licences are granted will be available to the public. It was hoped that the process of granting or refusing licences could be fairer and more transparent in future. • Public Health is a key objective of the new Act. There have been frequent problems in the past with alcohol being sold to people who were already intoxicated. It was pointed out in the discussion that it is not only an issue of drunkenness – there are other public health dangers as well, including a growing number of alcohol-related deaths and illness. The problem is exacerbated by over-easy availability of alcohol and ‘cheap booze’ offers. • Nuisance problems are being caused by people making their way home noisily through residential areas from late night drinking clubs, where cheap drink is available until 3 or 4am. The new Act will address these problems by applying mandatory conditions to the licence, so that it should be more difficult for people to become very drunk. The Act will also facilitate speedier resolution of problems and complaints: at present, the Licensing Board meets only quarterly, which is far too slow. The underlying issue is the need to re-educate the public about the public health dangers of alcohol and to change the culture against the over-consumption of alcohol. • Is there any protection to enable complaints to be raised anonymously, to protect complainants against reprisals from licensees ? It was clarified that complainants will be able through their ward councilors and/or their MP or MSPs to contact the Licensing Standards Officers or the Police, all of whom should respect anonymity. • The Licensing Board will be required to consider ‘overprovision’ of too many licenses, their type and capacity, including ‘adult entertainment’ licenses. • There should be powers for the Police to close down a licensed premise immediately in case of problems or complaints, pending consideration by the Licensing Board (rather than allowing the licence to continue pending a hearing). • How are the members of the Licensing Board chosen? • There is need for robust arrangement to ensure that there is no suspicion that inducements or bribes may be offered to members of the Licensing Board, in order to obtain sympathetic consideration of licences or complaints. It was clarified that the Act makes it a criminal offence to offer or to accept inducements. The Act also contains strict measures to prevent conflicts of interest, in order to protect the public interest. Bridget thanked Sherriff Nicholson for his comprehensive presentation and for answering questions about the new method of licensing. Individual members of the public were also encouraged to submit written comments to Edinburgh City Council in response to the licensing consultation exercise BUSINESS MEETING 1.0 Apologies for Absence A number of apologies for absence were noted, mainly as a result of the school holidays: Frances Hawarden, Belinda Lennie, Robin Morris, Ann Royden, Kay Smith, Colin Young, and Cllrs Burns, Johnstone, Lowrie, MacLaren and McInnes. Cllr Gordon Buchan was present for the Business Meeting, as was PC Alan Hopper. 2.0 Minutes of previous MCC meeting held on 18th September 2007 were circulated Adoption of the minutes was proposed by Ian Clements and the minutes were adopted. 3.0 Matters Arising 1. Public Health – The Chairman introduced Dr. Helen Zealley, formerly the Director of Public Health with NHS Lothian and a resident in the area. MCC had been invited to nominate someone to submit comments to the Public Partnership Forum regarding public health planning and policy issues, in response to consultation initiatives. Dr Zealley had kindly agreed to advise and assist MCC in drafting appropriate comments in response to future consultation requests; draft comments by Dr Zealley will be considered by MCC Members and then submitted to the Public Partnership Forum. The current health consultation paper, ‘Better Health; Better Care’ is available to the public on the internet (or from Blackwells, booksellers). The objective is to achieve better integration between the various parts of NHS Scotland and other public services (unlike in England, where health policy is based on internal competition within the NHS). It was noted that the Annual Review of NHS Lothian will take place with Nicola Sturgeon, the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing. This will take the form of a public meeting which will take place on 12th November at Murrayfield Stadium (Questions to be submitted in advance in writing by 30th October). Dr Zealley also stated that volunteers were sought to interview health students – any nominations should be directed to Dr Zealley. The Chairman thanked Dr Zealley for her report and for agreeing to assist MCC in the important area of public health. 2. There were no other matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting, apart from topics which were covered in the various reports discussed later in this meeting. 4.0 Reports and Action Points i. Police Report PC Alan Hopper reported that 3 males had been arrested recently in this area and charged with a total of 25 housebreaking offences. A 15 year old had been charged with 21 car break-ins. As a result of these and other arrests, PC Hopper reported that there had been a significant reduction in crime in our area. PC Hopper notified 2 forthcoming Police initiatives: Operation Adapt will be focused on cyclists and will seek to educate and inform cyclists, particularly students, of the dangers of bike theft, nuisance of obstruction by bikes on common stairs and abandoned bikes, illegal activities such as riding with no lights, cycling on pavements etc. A leaflet, Combat Bike Theft, is available from the Police. Pub Watch is a phone-round scheme, whereby publicans can notify each other of unruly drinkers who have been evicted from their pub, including providing a description. Police can interview and bar an individual for a period of time in the case of persistent offenders. The chairman thanked PC Hopper for his report and congratulated the Police on the reduction in crime rates in our area. ii. Planning Report 6b Merchiston Park – It was reported that virtually every resident in this street has now objected to the proposal to demolish the existing house and build a large block of new dwellings on the site. MCC had been requested by residents to lodge an objection to the latest application and this had been done. People were also encouraged to lobby ward councilors ahead of the imminent Planning Committee meeting at which this application would be considered. 40 Colinton Road – It was reported that a proposal was being developed to build a new private health clinic on this site. Not yet in the Weekly List. 44 Montpelier Park – Proposal to extend the house by converting the attic into additional living accommodation. Mairianna Clyde, a member of the MCC Planning Committee, reported that various problems could arise, including fire risk, inadequate fire exits etc. Napier University - Chilling plant. Noted that this application related to the computing building and that the planning application had been modified. Mairianna Clyde will liaise with John Lennie and other members of the Planning Group on these and other current planning issues. iii. Licensing Report i. Three Yearly Review of Licensing Policy – Following the discussion earlier in the meeting, the Chairman confirmed that MCC would be submitting its views to Edinburgh Licensing Board in response to the current consultation paper. MCC will seek the support of ward councillors. The deadline for responses to this review is 26th October. ii. Complaints – Complaints continued to be received about noise and other anti social problems relating to the Polwarth Tavern, the Royal Ettrick Hotel and the Orwell Lodge. iii. Union Canal - Food Licence Application The applicant for a Food Licence for a food outlet situated near the towpath by the Union Canal had changed its proposed location since the previous meeting. There have been an increased number of expressions of concern at this application including MCC, several City Councillors, the Union Canal Society and Friends of Harrison Park. Concerns included noise from a generator engine to provide electricity, litter and other nuisance. A site visit is scheduled. It was a matter for regret that notice of this application had been incomplete and received very close to the deadline for objections. iv. Treasurer’s Report - Frances Hawarden, the Treasurer, was unable to attend this meeting but a report was circulated and noted. v. Chairman's report – The Chairman circulated a written report, detailing meetings she had attended. 5.0 ANY OTHER BUSINESS i. The Chairman reported that she had written to thank Desmond Hodges for his magnificent service as member of MCC, and in particular to the Planning Group. ii. Training Workshop - 16th November. Organised by the Park It! Team at GreenSpace and hosted by Edinburgh City Council. Venue: Waverley Court, 4 East Market Street. MCC members have been invited to attend. iii. AGM of Association of Community Councils - 3rd November. Anyone interested in attending to let Bridget Stevens know. iv. Satellite Dishes in Dundee Terrace – These satellite dishes had been erected without permission and would now have to be removed. Satellite dishes must comply with planning regulations. v. Leamington Wharf - Noted that the name of the new street will be Rope Walk. vi – School Maintenance – Reductions in the City Council’s budgets for school maintenance was reported. Concern was expressed about the negative implications of reducing maintenance in schools. 6.0 Date of Next Meeting Date: Tuesday 20th November Venue: Polwarth Parish Church Hall Time: 7pm |
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