Agenda and minutes

Cllr Phil Graham welcomed everyone to the meeting and officers and members introduced themselves. The procedure for the conduct of the meeting was outlined.

Apologies of absence were received from Councillors Nathan and Bossman-Quarshie.

Councillors Williamson and Graham (Chair) substituted.

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.

None.

The order of business was as per the agenda.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the previous meeting be signed by the Chair as a correct record.

The licensing officer introduced all parties to the application. There were 2 residents present at the meeting and a further 4 representations had been received by email. These representations reiterated the conditions set out in pages 43 to 45 of the agenda. He stated that condition 2 was a stronger than what a resident had asked in their representation, which stated smoking would take place outside the front on the street rather than in the beer garden after 9pm.

The applicant’s representative responded to questions from the interested parties explaining that, music would only be of background level, they were happy to stick to condition 2 and 3 with a preference for smokers to not be in the beer garden after 9pm. He further explained the target audience was those that enjoyed organic wines and would be of a very different clientele to that of the previous establishment and it was highly unlikely they would cause disturbance or excessive noise pollution. He also responded to questions about opening hours and said these would be as the license application stated.

The applicant understood the concerns of residents and the historical nature of the previous premises, but he reassured residents that he was employing a very well experienced General Manager to run the premises and be the DPS. He further stated he could have applied for longer hours but recognised residents’ concerns and wanted to reinstate what was deemed appropriate before and uphold the licensing objectives to a high standard. The applicant wanted to bring the 100-year premises back to life with a style of operation that was more in line with resident’s views.

In response to questions from the committee, the applicant and his representative stated they were hoping to work collaboratively with residents on an appropriate dispersal policy and ensuring there would be no rubbish left on the streets, but they did not anticipate there to be much disruption from people leaving the premises. They also explained they wanted to make use of the outside seating area which could sit around 10 people but there would be no vertical drinking. Regarding the layout of the premises the applicant explained the plans reflected the previous layout but if the license be granted this had been subject to change. Concerns over underage drinking/theft of alcohol arose and the applicant explained the retail area of wines would be close to the fire door which would sound an alarm if anybody tried to leave via this exit, so the worker on shift would be aware of any such attempts.

In summary, the applicant stated he wanted to engage as much as possible with residents to ensure their concerns were being heard and would have the necessary procedures, such as a dispersal plan, to mitigate these.

RESOLVED

1)   The Sub-Committee has decided to grant the application for a new premises licence in respect of Oxford Arms, 21 Halliford Street, London, N1 3HB

a)    To allow the sale of alcohol on and off the premises on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62.

Postponed.