Agenda and minutes

Councillor Valerie Bossman-Quarshie welcomed everyone to the meeting and officers and members introduced themselves.  The procedure for the conduct of the meeting was outlined.

None.

None.

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.

Councillor Bossman- Quarshie declared an interest in agenda item B3 – Bavo Market, 203 Green Lanes, N16 -  premises licence new application – as she lived locally and visited the premises to shop.

The Sub-Committee were informed that agenda items B1 (M'Nuchah, 392 Camden Road, N7) and B2 ( Islington Blend, 489 Liverpool Road, N7) had been postponed, as the applicants could not travel to attend the meeting due to the transport strike.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meetings held on 3 and 17 November 2022 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

Postponed.

Postponed.

The Licensing Officer apologised that the letter to residents from the applicant’s representative, and dated 14 December 2022, had not been circulated with the agenda pack, but had been circulated separately to members of the Sub-Committee. The letter had been sent to the residents who had objected three weeks previously, but no response had been received from them to date.  He noted that both resident objectors lived at the same address.

The applicant’s representative stated that his representation to the Sub-Committee had been largely covered in the letter of 14 December 2022 to residents. In response to the concern raised by one of the residents about the existing number of shop premises in the vicinity of Bavo Market and the applicant’s link to stores in Blackstock Road, he stated that this was not an expansion of existing businesses, but a separate business. Referring to the resident’s reference to the close proximity of national chain stores, such as Sainsbury’s, in the area, he stated that there were similar micro-stores in many towns. However, many local residents would prefer to support local independent businesses.  The concerns of the local residents were understood by the applicant and, in order to allay some of those concerns, the operating schedule had been amended to take account of them.

The applicant detailed his and his family’s history of their lives in the local area. He stated that he and his business partner were well known in the area and hoped that they would be seen as part of the local community.  The running of the premises would be a main project for the applicant, who would run the premises with assistance from his wife. 

The applicant’s partner said that he had previous experience of running a shop and that this would be a good opportunity for him. He had a personal licence and understood his responsibilities. Both he and the applicant also held SIA licences and therefore had had training in dealing with people and noise control.

A member of the Sub-Committee stated that the letter of 14 December 2022 to residents was comprehensive and was pleased to note that the applicant had accepted the further conditions suggested by the Police and Licensing Authority. He stressed the importance of Condition 1, relating to the maintenance of an incident log, and asked the applicant to detail how he intended to comply.  The applicant said that he had been in trade all of his life and was well used to maintaining an incident log and had rejected sales on occasion. His business partner stated that he had refused not only alcohol sales, but sales of tobacco too.

A member of the Sub-Committee asked the applicant how he proposed to build a rapport with the community.  The applicant stated that, during the run up to Christmas, he had made use of the space at the front of his premises to sell Christmas trees. He said that local people seemed pleased to know of their plans for the shop premises.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.