Agenda item

The Committee was advised that an application had been received for the grant of a 7-Day Annual Outdoor Entertainments Licence for the Tipsy Bird.  The applicant proposed to provide entertainment in the form of live musical one or two person acts.  The outdoor area was located to the rear of the venue and opened onto Princes Street.  The premises currently had an existing Indoor Entertainments Licence.

            The days and hours during which entertainment might be provided under the terms of the Indoor Entertainments Licence were:

·        Monday to Saturday   11.30 a.m. to 03.00 a.m., and

·        Sunday                       12.30 p.m. to 03.00 a.m.

The days and hours proposed to provide entertainment within the outdoor area were:

·        Friday         4.00 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. 

·        Saturday     2.00 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. 

·        Sunday       2.00 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. 

The maximum occupancy of the proposed outdoor area would be in the region of between 120 and 180 people. The exact figure would be determined when all technical matters related to the application were resolved to the satisfaction of the Service.  The number of persons to be accommodated in the new outdoor area was included in the existing overall maximum occupancy of the indoor area of 430 persons; they were not in addition to that occupancy.

All applications for the grant of Outdoor Entertainments Licences must be brought before Committee for consideration.

The Committee was advised that an objection to the application was received. Further to negotiations between both parties, a noise impact assessment was carried out by acoustic consultants acting on behalf of the applicant and the objector. The assessment identified that the limited noise levels had a minimal impact on the Translink Control Room and communication had now been received confirming that the objection has been withdrawn.

            However, the objector had concerns that these noise tests had not been carried out during a live performance with patrons present. The Objector has requested that a special condition be attached to the licence to ensure that if noise arising from live entertainment impacts on the Translink Control Room operations then further monitoring of the noise levels would be carried out by the Applicant to establish an acceptable noise level.

            The Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service had both been consulted and neither had any objection to the application.

            The premises had been subject to inspections as part of the licensing application process and all technical requirements and associated operational and management procedures had been checked and were satisfactory.

            The applicant had provided the Service with a noise impact assessment report from an acoustic consultant for the outdoor area. This had been provided to the Environmental Protection Unit for evaluation.

            The Building Control Manager requested that, if the Committee was of the mind to grant the Outdoor Entertainments Licence, then delegated authority was being sought to attach any terms and conditions to the Licence regarding the management of noise. Such conditions would only be attached with the full agreement of the licensee.

            The Committee was advised that the applicant was in attendance, and he advised the Committee that he would content for the Committee to apply a condition which would allow it to monitor the sound on an ongoing basis.

            The Committee approved the application for the grant of the 7-Day Annual entertainments Licence within the outdoor area, subject to any terms and conditions as outlined above in relation to the management of sound.