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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1, Council Offices, Woodgreen, Witney, Oxfordshire OX28 1NB. View directions

Contact: Democratic Services 

Media

Items
No. Item

19.

Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

 

Minutes:

Apologies for Absence were received from Councillor David Jackson.

20.

Declarations of Interest

To receive any declarations from Members of the Committee on any items to be considered at the meeting.

 

Minutes:

There were no Declarations of Interest.

21.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 58 KB

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 18 April 2023.

 

Minutes:

The minutes of the previous meeting were deferred to the Licensing Committee for approval.

22.

Application for a New Premises Licence - The Wilderness Festival, Cornbury Park pdf icon PDF 77 KB

Purpose

To determine an application for a new premises licence made by MAMA Festivals Limited, for the Wilderness Festival at Cornbury Park, Charlbury, OX7 3EH

 

Recommendation

That the Licensing Panel is asked, in light of the representations received, to consider the application and determine whether to:

·         grant the application as requested;

·         grant the application subject to such conditions that are necessary to promote the licensing objectives;

·         refuse the application in whole or in part where it is necessary in order to promote the licensing objectives.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair Councillor Mark Walker welcomed everyone to the hearing and introduced the Panel in attendance, Councillors Cooper and Doughty.

 

The Chair asked for the Officers in attendance to introduce themselves, Andrea Thomas introduced herself as the Licensing Officer, Kevin Dunford introduced himself as the Licensing Officer, Marianne Garrett introduced herself as the Senior Environmental Health Officer, April Paintain introduced herself as the Environmental Health Officer, Sara Anthony as the Legal Executive and Anne Learmonth introduced herself as Strategic Support Officer.

 

Following introductions, the Chair asked those who wished to speak that were in attendance to introduce themselves.

 

Simon Taylor, Solicitor, on behalf of the Applicant.

Emma Kirby, Festival Manager, on behalf of Applicant.

Harry Lang, Vanguardia Accoustic Consultant, on behalf of Applicant.

 

The Chair outlined the process the hearing would follow and explained that the Panel would be advised by the Council’s Legal Adviser, and Committee Clerk (the Strategic Support Officer).

 

The Chair reminded all parties to highlight only issues that related to Licensing Objectives, being:

 

  • The prevention of crime and disorder;
  • Public safety;
  • The prevention of public nuisance;
  • The protection of children from harm;

 

The Chair announced that the Panel were in attendance to consider an application for a new premises licence made by MAMA Festivals Limited for the Wilderness Festival at Cornbury Park.

 

The Licensing Officer, Andrea Thomas, outlined the application for a new premises licence made by MAMA Festivals Limited in regard to the Wilderness Festival at Cornbury Park. The Officer confirmed that there had been amendments to Annex D as follows;

 

  • the main stage would not be in operation on Thursday and would only operate between the hours of 10am and 11pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The site would open at 8am on Thursday and close at 4pm on Monday.

 

The Panel was asked to consider the application and to determine whether to:

  • Grant the application as requested;
  • Grant the application subject to such conditions that are necessary to promote the licensing objectives;
  • Refuse the application in whole or in part where it is necessary in order to promote licensing objectives.

 

The Chair then invited Simon Taylor to address the Panel.

 

Simon Taylor addressed the Panel and gave an outline of the application by focusing on key points; background to the festival, the application, structure and planning, response from authorities and residents’ comments.

 

  • The Wilderness Festival had been running from 2011 as an arts and music festival. The attendance included a demographic age range from 35 – 50+, with a focus on families and was widely attended. There was a focus on music, food and drink, theatre and arts. The festival offered day passes and camping facilities from Thursday to Monday for weekend passes.  Passes for local residents from two postcode areas were discounted.

 

  • The 2019 licence was used as a template for this application. The length of the licence was for 5 days, which were broken down over individual days and times. The new application made two changes in timings. On page 41,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.