Agenda and minutes

Councillor Phil Graham 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 Councillor Marian Spall.

Councillor Alice Clarke-Perry substituted for Councillor Marian Spall.

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 as the agenda.

The licensing officer introduced all parties to the application.  There were no residents present at the meeting. She stated that a letter from the applicant and two conditions accepted by the Licensing Authority had been circulated.  The Licensing Authority had therefore withdrawn their representation. A video showing the layout of the premises could be shown if required. 

The applicant’s representative stated that the licence could have been transferred but the applicant wished to have a stricter licence which would satisfy all potential issues.  All of the three responsible authorities had withdrawn their representations following conditions being agreed. The applicant had written to the residents detailing the conditions and hoping to allay fears but had received no response.  The applicant stated that he had 20 years’ experience supervising licensed premises and had held a personal licence for over 30 years. He had also held a premises licence in shops where he had been the store manager.  He said that the premises would be well managed, it was not that large and customers would need to book a table and be seated. All staff would be extensively trained and they had the help of a training consultant to ensure that they would remain fully compliant. They had been trained in Challenge 25, drug policies and would not serve customers who were drunk.

In response to questions it was stated that part of their policy was to ensure that women were safe in the bar and restaurant.  They would have security in place and would assist females to get taxis if needed.  The training consultant would train staff so that they could look out for any distress signs and these policies would be in place. They had tried to reach out to residents who objected but had received no response.  They could have talkback events in the future to allow local residents to give their suggestions and observations which would give guidance to show how they could move forward. They had live entertainment downstairs and they wanted up to twenty people to be able to stand to see the entertainment if their views were blocked. Only customers sitting down would be served alcohol. They may move to a delivery service in the future and would be happy to accept a condition about non-motorised vehicles.

In summary, the applicant’s representative stated he would provide his details to residents if the licence was granted. It was expected that customers would be seated and served at the tables in the basement however, if there was an event the 20 allowed to stand would allow for freedom of movement for families.  The licence proposed was a far better option than the previous one.

RESOLVED

1)      That the application for a new premises licence, in respect of Belize, 171 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3AL, be granted to allow:-

a)         The provision of regulated entertainment by way of performance of dance, live music and recorded music. Monday to Saturday from 11am until midnight and on Sundays from 11am until 11pm  ...  view the full minutes text for item 290.