Agenda and minutes

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

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Sheila Chapman and Alice Clarke-Perry.

Councillor Paul Convery substituted for Councillor Sheila Chapman and Councillor Phil Graham substituted for Councillor Clarke-Perry.

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.

There were no declarations of interest.

The order of business would be Item B2, B1.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 June 2019 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

The Sub-Committee noted that the applicant and the interested parties were not present at the meeting.

RESOLVED this item be deferred.

The licensing officer reported that the premises was not in a cumulative impact area.  There had been a licence in place until the end of 2018 but the licence had lapsed as the business had gone into administration.  The times applied for were less than on the previous licence.

The applicant stated that this was an authentic Eritrean restaurant and the application was to serve alcohol with food until 10pm during the week and until midnight at the weekends.  She stated that there was a large pub nearby, The Alma, which had a lot of complaints. However, this was a traditional restaurant and very different to The Alma. She was fully trained and would uphold the licensing objectives.  She had liaised with the police and the noise team and conditions were agreed. Alcohol would not be sold without food.

In response to questions it was reported that it was likely that all nationalities would be eating at the restaurant.  It was noted that the hours proposed were not consistent with the planning consent but it was noted that the applicant would be applying for a certificate for established use.  Planning was a separate regime to licensing and should there was a breach of planning permission, it would be a matter for the planning enforcement team. The applicant confirmed that they would be able to accept the hours of 11.30pm at the weekends, in line with their planning consent.

RESOLVED

1)     That the application for a new premises licence, in respect of La,za, Basement and Ground Floor, 41 Newington Green Road, N1 4QT be granted to allow:-

a)         The sale by retail of alcohol, on supplies only, Sundays to Thursdays from 12 Noon until 10 pm and Fridays and Saturdays from 12 noon until 11. 30pm.

b)          The provision of late night refreshment, Fridays and Saturdays from 11pm until 11.30pm

c)         The premises to be open to the public, Mondays to Thursdays from 8am until 10pm, Fridays and Saturdays from 8am until 11.30pm and Sundays from 11am until 10pm.

2)     That conditions outlined in appendix 3 and detailed on pages 81 and 83 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.

Three local resident objections had been received.  There had been no representations made by the responsible authorities. Conditions had been agreed with the police, the noise team and trading standards.

The Sub-Committee was satisfied that the premises were food led and were operating as a traditional Eritrean restaurant with alcohol only served with meals.  It was not a bar or a public house and was not likely to cause nuisance to neighbours. 

However, planning permission had not been granted for the hours sought and no application had been made by the restaurant owner. Home office guidance,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 74.