May 11th 2009 - meeting minutes

Loaves and Fishes sculpture by John Skelton, Brighthelm Church and Community Centre

Photo by Peter Crowhurst

Licensing strategy and applications

By Lynne Arnold, NLCA joint Secretary

Welcome

Welcome to all those in attendance, particularly new members. 22 attended. Apologies were received from Ian Davey, Barry Leigh and Peter Stocker.

Minutes of last meeting

The minutes of the last meeting were approved.

Matters arising

It was noted that Komedia's situation has improved.

Environment

Licensing

At its recent meeting, the Licensing Strategy Group considered our request to be included in the Cumulative Impact Area.  The group was not willing to do so at this point. The group's arguments were not particularly robust, but the police and council recommended to the meeting that the status quo be maintained. It is a disappointing result and an admission that, not only was noise not addressed in the 2003 Licensing Act, no-one is currently willing to address it. We should continue to complain and report incidences of noise to the police, so that they are on record and strengthen the case for reconsidering our inclusion in the CIA in the future.

The meeting agreed to object to the Queen's Road Tesco application, on the basis of the disturbance caused by delivery lorries on Frederick Street.

The meeting agreed to object, if possible, to the newsagent at 33 Sydney Street selling alcohol from 8am - 11pm every day.

Planning

It was agreed to make no comment on the following applications: 1 Gloucester Passage; 7 Pelham Square.

We had agreed at a previous meeting not to comment on the change of conditions for Seasons Café, to allow them to prepare and sell hot food on the premises.

Concern was expressed that the council is not enforcing its decision to remove the ATM at 95 Trafalgar Street.

The public enquiry into the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital demolition and redevelopment starts 12 May 2009.

The Supplementary Planning Document for the London Road area has been drawn up and will be exhibited to residents in the Co-op building from 4-6 June. Everyone was encouraged to see this and input to the consultation.

Another London Road is holding open evenings on 9-10 June 2009 from 6-9pm at the Calvary Church near Preston Circus.

Reports

Runner

The date of collection is 4pm on Friday 29 May from Ruth Goodall.

Brighton Society

There was nothing to report.

Police  

The police have three local priorities for the area, which are: drugs activity, anti-social behaviour and bikes. The meeting agreed that these were good priorities, but requested that our concerns about noise also be addressed. The meeting welcomed the suggestion to have the Inspector come and hear our concerns.

Traders

The website is currently being updated.

Website group

A social quiz is being organised, to be held at the Lord Nelson pub on 9 July. The cost will be £5 per person and numbers limited to 40 people. Food will be provided by the NLCA, however any contributions are welcome.

Living Streets

The consultation regarding the amount of space left for pedestrians is currently at 1.3m, although in reality it is more likely to be 1m. The traders are concerned about the loss of tables and chairs and "A" boards. "A" boards are a complex issue and the council is in the process of considering these.

Social events

Theatre group

The next theatre visit will be to "Hayfever" by Noel Coward on 25 June. Contact Peter Crowhurst if you are interested.

Everyone is invited to the Kemp Street party on Sunday 2 Aug 2009.

Any other business

Some time ago we received £1,000 as a legacy from Ted Warburton. Any ideas on how the money should be used are welcome, for a final proposal in Oct/Nov 2009.

We have received a £300 grant towards the cost of meetings and have been encouraged to apply for next year as well.

We have been approached by Caroline Lucas to have her speak to us. As we are an apolitical charity it would not be appropriate to invite only one party to speak. Perhaps in the future we should consider staging a debate on issues that concern the Association, inviting all parties to attend. The meeting was concerned about doing this, as it may contravene our charitable status.