Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that Councillor Bunday as Chair of the Committee act as Chair for the purposes of this meeting.

To approve and sign as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 February 2025 and to deal with any matters arising, attached.

RESOLVED: that the minutes for the Sub- Committee meeting on 19 February 2025 be approved and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED  that at a predetermined point during the consideration of all items the Sub-Committee may move into private session in order to receive legal advice when determining issues. The parties to the hearing, press and the public, unless otherwise excluded by the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005, will be invited to return immediately following that private session at which time the matter will be determined and the decision of the Sub-Committee will be announced.

The Sub-Committee considered the application for the renewal of the sexual entertainment venue (SEV) licence in respect of Wiggle, 188 Above Bar Street, Southampton, SO14 7DW.

The Sub-Committee has given due regard to the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, statutory guidance, its own policy, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, the Public Sector Equality Duty under section 149 Equality Act 2010 and Human Rights legislation.

The Licensing Enforcement Officer, one objector and the applicant were present and with the consent of the Chair addressed the meeting. The Sub-Committee noted that there were no other objections to the application, including from any statutory bodies.

The Sub-Committee carefully considered all representations and evidence both in the report and given orally at the hearing.

RESOLVED: that the application for renewal of the Sexual Entertainment licence be approved.

Reasons

The Sub-Committee took into account that the SEV licence had been held by Sylvan Glade Limited since 2 January 2016 without incident and with the licence being renewed annually since that date.  There had been one objection made to the application.

The Sub-Committee received legal advice that it could not take into account their personal views about the suitability of SEV’s generally and could not take into account any purely moral objections.

Whilst the objection did contain moral issues it also raised issues about the management of the premises and the state and locality of the building which were relevant issues.

With regard to management the issue around advertising was raised and the Sub-Committee did not feel that this was sufficient to question management particularly as the offending advert had been removed voluntarily.

As to the historic sites around the premises, the Sub-Committee felt that there was no impact on these sites. The premises has been licensed for many years and no issues have been raised in this regard.

As to the state of the premises, the broken window did not suggest that the premises were in a poor condition and there is no evidence that any authorities are taking action regarding the state of the premises. 

The Sub-Committee were reminded to and did consider the Public Sector Equality Duty. In doing so whilst considering the objection made, the Sub-Committee was satisfied that this renewal application would not have an adverse impact. 

Based on all of the above the Sub-Committee found no good reason to refuse the renewal application.

There is a right of appeal for any party to the Magistrates’ Court. All parties will receive written notification of the decision with reasons which will set out that right in full.