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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 4, Town Hall, Upper Street, N1 2UD

Contact: Jackie Tunstall  020 7527 3068

Items
No. Item

192.

Introductions and procedure

Minutes:

Councillor Alex Diner welcomed everyone to the meeting and officers and members introduced themselves.  The procedure for the conduct of the meeting was outlined.

193.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence.

194.

Declarations of substitute members

Minutes:

There were no declarations of substitute members.

195.

Declarations of interest

If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

§  if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

§  you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

 

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.

 

*(a)     Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

(b) Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

(c) Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between you or your partner (or a body in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council.

(d) Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

(e) Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or longer.

(f) Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have a beneficial interest.

 (g) Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital. 

 

This applies to all members present at the meeting.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

196.

Order of Business

Minutes:

The order of business would be as the agenda.

197.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 116 KB

Minutes:

 

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 29 January 2018 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

198.

Afasika Bar and Restaurant, 152 Seven Sisters Road, N7 7PL - Premises licence review pdf icon PDF 18 MB

Minutes:

The licensing officer reported that an acoustic report had been circulated.  This would be interleaved with the agenda papers.  It was also noted that there was a rear smoking area indicated on the plan submitted with the acoustic report but on a recent visit by licensing officers this did not exist.

 

The noise officer reported that there had been many intervention attempts made with the licensee which had been unsuccessful.  A noise abatement notice was served in November 2017 and a contravention of this notice was witnessed on the 29 January 2018.  This was also after the review had been served. A warrant to seize equipment was applied for on the 1 February but this was defective.  It had also been necessary to attend on the 11 February and 25 March following noise complaints. The limiter had been found to be on the floor and not locked away.  Mr Kidane had an interest in the premises as early as June 2015, was present at the officer panel in February 2016 prior to the transfer in January 2017.  The noise officer had not changed the recommendation and she considered that the hours should be in line with the cumulative policy hours for bars and restaurants.  She did not believe the situation would improve unless the hours were cut back.  The acoustic consultant had made recommendations but the work would need to be costed and it would need to be carried out. The anti-social behaviour team reported that the noise service had been called on Sunday 25 March at 2.14am. They noted that they could hear loud music in the communal area which was lowered before they reached the complainants flat.  It was believed that the doorman saw the noise team arrive and lowered the music. There were a group of people outside who were rowdy and trying to gain entry into the venue.  They spent about 10/15 minutes shouting at the doorman.  On numerous occasions the noise team had advised the licensee about the noise issues.  Music was lowered for a short time but then the noise increased. It was noted that music would need to be limited to 90dB.  The music was not controlled by the licensee, even after the review application.

 

In response to questions, the noise officer stated that a revocation had not been recommended as it was considered that a reduction in hours would reduce the nuisance as the consumption of alcohol would be reduced.

 

The police spoke in support of the review. He stated that the level of intoxication was the main reason for the violent crime associated with the venue.  At an incident in January 2018, the victim had been drinking.  In February there were five breaches identified. At a visit in March, 3 further breaches were witnessed.  On the 11 March there were 20/30 males congregating outside the venue who were observed to be highly intoxicated.  In the early hours of the 25 March there had been a call to the control room as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 198.

199.

Ground Control Cafe, 61 Amwell Street, EC1R 1UR - New premises licence pdf icon PDF 3 MB

Minutes:

The applicant stated that she had some customers that had asked if they could have alcohol with their lunch and had suggested to her that an alcohol licence would be a good idea. The shop was in a residential area and the landlord, who lived above the shop was concerned about noise so she had agreed with him that initially the alcohol would be sold until 3pm for a trial period.  She had been running the premises for six years and alcohol served would not be cheap.  Alcohol sold would be wine and perhaps a craft beer or cocktail.  She wanted to keep good relations with neighbours.  It was a small premises and only 10 people could sit outside and six at the most on the terrace.

 

RESOLVED

1)     That the application for a new premises licence, in respect of Ground Control Café, 61 Amwell Street, EC1R 1UR be granted to allow:-

 

a)    The supply of alcohol, for consumption on the premises from 12:00 noon until 8:30 pm Monday to Sunday.

b)    Opening hours to be:- from 12:00 noon until 8.30pm Monday to Sunday.

 

2)     That conditions outlined in appendix 3 and detailed on page 103 of the agenda be applied to the licence.

 

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.

 

The Sub-Committee took into consideration Licensing Policy 3.  The premises fall within the Clerkenwell cumulative impact area.  Licensing policy 3 creates a rebuttable presumption that applications for new premises licences that are likely to add to the existing cumulative impact will normally be refused following the receipt of representations, unless the applicant can demonstrate in the operation schedule that there will be no negative cumulative impact on one or more of the licensing objectives.

 

The Sub-Committee noted that the applicant had accepted conditions from the Police and the Noise Team and as a result had no objections from any responsible authority. There had been objections from two local residents and a local business owner. They were not present at the meeting.

 

The Sub-Committee noted that the hours sought were within the framework hours specified, the premises were not alcohol led and there would be no vertical drinking and as a result fell within the exceptions set out in the Clerkenwell Cumulative Impact Policy. The Sub-Committee was satisfied that, with the hours of operation and the proposed conditions, the grant of the premises licence would not add to the existing cumulative impact and the licensing objectives would be promoted.