Agenda and minutes

Councillor Andrews welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked members and officers to introduce themselves.

None received.

None.

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If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

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This applies to all members present at the meeting.

None.

The order of business was as the agenda.

That the minutes of the meeting held on the 4 November 2014 be confirmed as a correct record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

The licensing officer reported that an update from the applicant had been forwarded to the objector but no response had been received.

Osgur Ay, licensing agent, supported by the applicant, Mr Kosiqi, spoke in support of the application.  She reported that Mr Kosiqi had worked at another restaurant since 2002. In response to concerns from the resident she reported that the application was for a food and not alcohol led premises.  There would be no vertical drinking.  There was no outside seating but if there was in the future, seating would be removed by 8pm as conditioned.  The capacity inside was for a maximum of 50 patrons.

In response to questions it was noted that there would be no more than 20 diners outside on seating, although there were no proposals for the use of the outside at the moment and details were not included in the plans submitted with the application.  It was noted that residents who had objected to a previous application had been contacted by the applicant through the licensing officer.  It was accepted by the applicant that smokers be limited to four people.  The applicant reported that it was proposed to use a canopy for smokers.  There would be adequate staff and all would be trained in licensing matters. 

In summary it was reported that the applicant had been renovating the premises over the past six months and wanted to fit in with the community.

RESOLVED:

1) That the application for a new premises licence in respect of Mediterranean Restaurant, 131-133 Central Street, EC1 be granted to permit the supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises from 11:00 to 22:30 on Monday to Saturday.

2)  That the opening hours of the premises be from 11:00 hours to 23:00 hours.

REASONS FOR DECISION

The Sub-Committee listened to all the evidence and submissions and read all the material. The Sub-Committee reached the decision having given consideration to the Licensing Act 2003, as amended, and its regulations, the national guidance and the Council’s Licensing Policy.

A written representation had been received by a resident. The Sub-Committee took the submission into consideration. It also noted that most of the issues of concern raised by the resident had been taken into consideration by the applicant. The applicant sent a written response to the resident. The Licensing Officer informed the Sub-Committee that no response had been received by the resident. The resident did not attend the hearing.

The Sub-Committee took into consideration Licensing Policy 2.  The premises fall under the Bunhill and Clerkenwell cumulative impact area.  Licensing policy 2 creates a rebuttable presumption that applications for new premises licences that are likely to add to the existing cumulative impact will normally be refused, unless an applicant can demonstrate why the operation of the premises involved will not add to the cumulative impact or otherwise impact adversely on the promotion of the licensing objectives.

The special policy is however not absolute. The circumstances of each application will be considered on its  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

The licensing officer reported that some information was omitted from the report. It was established that the applicant had received this additional information.  It was also reported that a review was submitted on the 28 October and on the 30 October a transfer application was submitted by an applicant who had the same family name.

The meeting was adjourned for a period of ten minutes in order for members of the Sub-Committee to read the additional information.  This would be interleaved with the agenda papers.

The police reported on some typographical errors in the report.  Page 36, third paragraph under ‘history’ to read 27 September and not October, page 37, third paragraph under ‘previous officer panels and reviews’ to read DPS and not DOS.  PC Hoppe reported that the application had been brought on the grounds of crime and disorder and public safety.  The premises were a favourite with football fans due to its location.  The Sub-Committee was informed that there had been two public order incidents on the 27 Sept and the 1 October as detailed in the papers.  Also, when the police visited in September there were found to be seven breaches of licensing conditions. Mr Kandeepan and Mr M Pushpanathan were invited to attend an officer panel to discuss these matters but did not respond to the letter and did not attend. 

The police reported that on 30 October, an application was made to change the designated premises supervisor (dps).  The current dps was aware that the review had been submitted at that time.  When taking the previous reviews into account and the latest incidents, the police considered revocation was proportionate.

In response to questions, the police reported that he had not visited since the new dps had taken over as he would be expected to be invited to see what changes were to be made. He had heard nothing since the submission of the review from the new applicant. Previous reviews added conditions and had suspended the licence and it was considered that these options had been exhausted.  A panel had been offered in October but this was ignored.  As the current dps was a relative of the former dps, PC Hoppe could not see that there would be any changes at the premises.

Robert Jordan, representing the licensee, Sanjay Pushpatharan, stated that letters PEH/2 and PEH/3 in the agenda pack, had not been seen by the previous dps.  There were errors in the dates detailed by the police in the review application and also there were discrepancies in the dates that letters were sent to the former dps. All conditions were being met on the 30 October, once the new dps had taken over, apart from a panic alarm which had taken longer to install.  CCTV was recording for 31 days and all requests regarding the sale of alcohol on match days were being complied with.  Even local customers were not being served alcohol on match days. The new  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.