Agenda item

The licensing officer advised that planning officers had confirmed that an application had been made to resolve the planning situation.

The applicant advised that this was a theatre/comedy club.  Tickets were purchased in advance and the venue did not attract customers off the street. There had been one noise complaint and this had been dealt with immediately and no complaints had been made since. The extension of hours was requested to fall in line with other venues in the city and as there were some comedians that performed later in the evening whom they have had to turn down.  One representation had been made which was not relevant to this particular venue.  Security was employed if considered necessary. 

In response to questions it was noted that guests were dispersed towards Pentonville Road and residents could not hear any noise from within the venue. They were a member of Pubwatch and they had no bag thefts or phone thefts or any reported incidents of drug use.  Names and contact details of patrons was held.

RESOLVED

1)     That the application for a premises licence variation, in respect of 2 Northdown Street, N1 9B, be granted to:-

a)    Extend the hours for the sale of alcohol on the premises, on Wednesday and Thursday until midnight and for Friday and Saturday until 1am.

b)    The premises to be open to the public from 12:00 noon until 23:30 Sunday to Tuesday, from 12 noon until half past midnight on Wednesday and Thursday and from 12:00 noon until 01:30 Friday and Saturday.

2)     That conditions outlined on pages 112-114 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 Policies 2 & 3.  The premises fall within the Kings Cross cumulative impact area.  Licensing policy 3 creates a rebuttable presumption that applications for the grant or variation of premises licences which 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.

One local resident objections had been received.  There had been no representations made by the responsible authorities.

The Sub-Committee noted conditions had been proposed following discussions from the police and the noise team. 

The Sub-Committee heard evidence from the applicant that this was a small theatre/comedy club.  Tickets were purchased in advance and the premises would not attract customers from the street.  They had demand from comedians who performed later shows and had applied for an extension of hours for this reason.  They dispersed guests towards Pentonville Road away from residential buildings. The venue was fully sound proofed and residents could not hear any noise from inside the venue.

The Sub-Committee concluded that the premises would not add to the existing cumulative impact in the area, there would be no negative cumulative impact on the licensing objectives and that the grant of the licence with the proposed conditions was reasonable and proportionate.