Agenda item

The Licensing Officer drew members’ attention to eight further conditions which had been circulated. In response to a question from members, the applicant’s representative confirmed that these were conditions with which the applicant would comply.

The Sub-Committee noted that no representations had been received from the Responsible Authorities.

The applicant’s representative stated that the application was solely for the sale of alcohol on the premises and that the hours of operation were within those recommended in the Licensing Policy. Alcohol would be served with food, as in a traditional restaurant. In fact, the sale of alcohol would be for an hour less than the closing times recommended in the Licensing Policy on Fridays and Saturdays. . The premises had been licensed in the past but the licence had been revoked, so the current applicant could not use that licence.

The application for an opening hour of 08:00 when the premises would be open to the public was to cater for the breakfast trade.  There had been problems associated with the premises historically, but this was no longer the case. The applicant’s representative said that the concerns of the resident above the premises about noise would be addressed by the additional conditions and the hours of operation of the premises.

Following the identification of a discrepancy on page 1 of the report of the Service Director for Public Protection which indicated that the application was for the sale of alcohol from Mondays to Sundays from 11:00 until 22:00, whereas the actual application (page 86) requested sale of alcohol from 11:00 on Sundays to Thursdays and 11:00 to 23:00 hours on Fridays and Saturdays, the Licensing Officer apologised for what appeared to be an officer error. She suggested that there had been no consequent affect on the notification to the Responsible Authorities, since her records indicated that the correct operating times had been notified to them.

In response to questions, the applicant confirmed that he had held the lease for the premises for six months and had not traded any later than 19:00 hours for a number of months.

RESOLVED:     

That the application for a new premises licence in respect ofPassengers, 19 Green Lanes, London N16 9BS be granted to permit:

i) the sale by retail of alcohol, on supplies only, on Sunday to Thursday, from 11:00 until 22:00

and 11:00 to 23:00 on Friday and Saturday

ii) the premises to be open to the public from Sunday to Thursday from 08:00 until 22:00 and from 08:00 to 23:00 on Friday and Saturday

iii) the conditions as outlined in appendix 4 and detailed on page 106/107 of the agenda and the eight additional conditions as agreed by the applicant.

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.

Following the identification of a discrepancy on page 1 of the report of the Service Director for Public Protection which indicated that the application was for the sale of alcohol from Mondays to Sundays from 11:00 until 22:00, whereas the actual application (page 86) requested sale of alcohol from 11:00 on Sundays to Thursdays and 11:00 to 23:00 hours on Fridays and Saturdays, the Licensing Officer stated that her records indicated that the correct operating times had been notified to the Responsible Authorities.

The Sub-Committee noted that no representations had been received from the Local Authority or the Police.

None of the three local residents who had objected to the application were present at the meeting, although their written representations had been taken into account, together with the applicant’s response to those representations. However, the Sub-Committee noted that the applicant had addressed residents’ concerns and produced and agreed eight further conditions with the residents with which the applicant would comply. The applicant’s representative stressed that the sale of alcohol would be ancillary to food, that the hours of operation were within those recommended in the Licensing Policy and that the opening hour of 08:00 was to enable the premises to provide breakfast to customers.

In response to residents’ representations, the applicant had engaged his own noise expert to carry out an inspection and, as a result, had carried out additional insulation works at the premises to reduce noise. The applicant’s representative suggested some of the noise problems cited by local residents as part of their representations emanated from nearby premises.

The Sub-Committee was satisfied that the proposed operation would promote the licensing objectives and therefore agreed to grant the application.