Agenda and minutes

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

None.

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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.

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The order of business would be Item B1, B2 and B3.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 May 2023 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

The Licensing Officer did not have any updates regarding this item.

The Licensing Authority did not have anything further to add to the representation made in the papers.  She asked that the Sub-Committee satisfy themselves regarding the application made for a 6am start time in this high-risk area and close to a drug dependency unit.

The applicants’ representative stated that there over 650 service stations in their remit and most of those sold alcohol for the same hours as their opening hours. This was a premises where alcohol required shutting off from 6am until 8am as the store opened at 6am with a start time of 8am for alcohol sales. The police had been consulted, additional conditions had been agreed with them and they were therefore satisfied. The interested parties had seemed to believe that a 24-hour licence had been applied for and he asked that the Sub-Committee consider less weight be given to these as this was a misunderstanding.  It was unlikely that Arsenal supporters would choose to buy from the premises at 6am and street drinking had not been experienced in this store. There was no evidence that street drinkers would migrate to this premises if a 6am licence was granted. He stated that the premises was opposite a fire and police station and there needed to be a balance between businesses and residents. There was a small off licence section in the premises. The sale of less than one product an hour would not change the cumulative impact on the area. There had been no representations from the police, noise team or the environmental health team and no evidence to support an increase in the cumulative impact.

In response to questions, it was stated that if the licence was agreed there would no longer need to be the management task of shuttering off the alcohol. There were also some sales that currently needed to be refused.  From the current figures there was not expected to be a huge increase in sales. There were currently two personal licence holders who worked on shifts. There was no requirement to demonstrate a need for an alcohol licence and this licence would allow trading hours to match licensing hours which could be considered as in the case of the vast majority of their other stores. The Home Office guidance stated that this could be considered by Licensing Committees. There were no plans to increase the floorspace. The licence was already robustly conditioned and granting this licence would allow for an additional two conditions which would apply for the rest of the day. There were limited sales of alcohol in the morning and they expected that if sales increased to street drinkers, and the Licensing Authority considered it to be a problem, it would be expected that the retailer would stop sales and the licence reviewed. The theft of alcohol on the premises was low and there was no evidence to suggest that the licence would add to the cumulative impact. They  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77.

The licensing officer contacted the noise team and clarified that condition 28 should read that music shall be restricted to background levels of sound ‘after 10pm’.  The noise officer also advised that condition 33 should be revised.

The licensing officer further advised that there had been a noise complaint in May. The noise team visited and witnessed loud music but not a statutory nuisance.  The noise team and Licensing Authority had been satisfied that this was a private birthday event and no alcohol had been sold. 

The applicant’s representative stated that some of their business came after Arsenal matches and customers wished to remain after 10pm. Following Covid this application gave an opportunity for an additional hour after business. There was a private birthday party on 11 May and the premises did not sell alcohol.  There had been no substantiated noise complaints. The premises was on a main road. The premises held cultural activities such as wine tasting with food from different areas of Italy.

In response to questions, music would only be played indoors during the working time of the restaurant. It was noted that amplified music should be at a level which could not be heard in a complainant’s home. The neighbour had asked that the volume of music be reduced and the applicant had moved the speaker to another part of the restaurant which he considered had resolved the problem. Regarding dispersal, the applicant said he would ask patrons to leave quietly. He half closed the shutters to prevent patrons coming in too late. The Sub-Committee raised concerns about this and stated that the applicant could just refuse late custom. There was seating outside which would not be used after 10 pm except for smokers.

In summary, the applicant had advised that there had only been one representation. This was an Italian restaurant with cultural activities.  They advised that not many patrons came before 7pm as the premises was not near the City and requested the extension of an hour.

RESOLVED

1)      That the application for a new premises licence, in respect of Amor, 139 Holloway Road, N7 8LX, be granted to allow:-

a)      The sale by retail of alcohol, on & off supplies, Mondays to Sundays from 12 noon until 11pm

b)      The premises to be open to the public, Mondays to Sundays from 12 noon until midnight.

2)      That conditions detailed on pages 72 to 75 of the agenda shall be applied to the licence with the following amendments:-

Condition 28 to read – Any music shall be restricted to ambient background levels of sound after 10pm

Condition 33 to read – In the event of noise nuisance being established the licensee shall agree to appropriate measures to abate the nuisance, in consultation with the Councils noise service.

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  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

The licensing officer advised that the applicant had written to the residents who had submitted representations; one had withdrawn, one resident was happy to meet with the applicant but had not withdrawn their representation and a third had been contacted three times but had not responded.

The applicant’s representative stated that this was a new alcohol licence. This was to be a small restaurant with 25 to 30 covers and was not a bar and was not alcohol led.

In response to questions, it was stated that this was a Japanese restaurant and all customers eating would be seated. CCTV was installed to help prevent nuisance. Alcohol was sold with food. Japanese alcohol would be mainly sold. Four patrons were allowed to stand while waiting for a table and other customers would be denied as the premises did not have any other space. The owner had passed the licensing course. They would indicate to patrons the directions away from the vicinity for quiet dispersal.

In summary, they would comply with conditions and hoped to bring Japanese food to the community.

RESOLVED

1)    That the application for a new premises licence, in respect of Katsumama, Unit 4 Rosebery Court, 36a Rosebery Avenue EC1R 5HP, be granted to allow the sale of alcohol, for consumption on the premises from 12:00 noon until 11pm Monday to Sunday.

2)    The premises to be open to the public from 12 noon until 11pm Monday to Sunday.

1)      That conditions detailed on pages 94 to 97 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 Clerkenwell 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 operating schedule that there will be no negative cumulative impact on one or more of the licensing objectives.

Three local resident objections had been received none of whom attended and one of which had been withdrawn.  There had been no representations made by the responsible authorities but conditions had been agreed with the police and noise team. 

The Sub-Committee noted that the hours sought were within the hours specified in licensing policy 6.

The Sub-Committee heard evidence that the police conditions allowed four people to stand in the restaurant while waiting for a table and to consume alcohol at that point. However, the Sub-Committee accepted that the restaurant was extremely small with 25 covers and no more than four people could be accommodated standing. The premises would operate as a sushi restaurant with specialist Japanese beers and alcohol  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79.