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.

None.

There were no declarations of substitute members.

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.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 21 April 2022 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

The licensing officer reported that the police had agreed conditions with the applicant but this was subject to an amendment to the hours proposed. The noise team had also agreed conditions.

The licensing authority stated that the applicant had not put forward any mitigation in their application. The application was sparse and they had not completed section 18 which should form the basis of licence conditions. They had not stated why they would need to operate until 3am and the licensing authority asked that, should the Sub-Committee be minded to grant, the hours should be framework hours. The police stated that they had offered the conditions but the hours proposed were well outside framework hours and no mitigation had been provided. The applicant had agreed the conditions once they had been offered to them. During engagement with the applicant, the core hours had been explained and he had been asked if he wished to amend the application.

In response to questions, the licensing authority stated that the application was not incomplete but the applicant had not set out how they intended to operate. The responsible authorities did not know if they would operate to the highest standards of management.  The police stated that if the applicant had reduced the hours to core hours they would not have objected to the application.

The applicant stated that he wanted the increased hours as they had made a loss over the past year. This was a takeaway business and they would not be selling alcohol. Customers would not make noise as they would order over the phone. There would be no noise disturbance to residents.

In response to questions it was noted that most delivery riders used electric bikes. They were unable to park directly in front of the shop due to the position of the traffic lights. He had not completed the application in full for fear of doing it incorrectly.  He was aware that the objections had been mainly about noise and agreed to a condition to ensure that all deliveries would be made by non-motorised vehicles.

The licensing authority was concerned that the applicant did not show a great understanding of the licensing policy or objectives and if the Sub-Committee was minded to grant the application it should be within core hours. The police agreed with this summary.

The applicant stated that if the licence be granted until 2am, this would be a huge help for the business.  They would ensure they mitigated any noise and not disturb the residents.

RESOLVED

1)    That the application for a new premises licence, in respect of Mr Chans, 21 Clerkenwell Road, EC1M 5RD, be granted to allow:-

a)    The sale of late night refreshment Sundays to Thursdays from 11pm until midnight and Friday and Saturdays from 11pm to 1am.

b)    The premises to be open to the public Sunday to Thursday from 11.30 am until midnight and Friday and Saturday from 11.30am to 1am.

2)    That conditions detailed on pages 39 to 40  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The licensing officer introduced the applicants to the Sub-Committee.  He clarified that the hours had been amended to be in line with the planning consent. Conditions had been agreed with the police and the noise team. One of the objectors had advised that they were generally happy with the application but required that conditions should be in line with the other restaurants in the area. The licensing officer advised that the main condition which applied would be that the entrance and exit after 8pm should be via Upper Street only and this would be in line with the planning consent.

The applicant’s representative stated that this was a restaurant with a plant based food menu. Alcohol would be served ancillary to food and all customers would be seated.  The premises was multifunctional. The application was for on and off sales. Hours had been reduced in line with planning consent. The premises did fall within the cumulative impact policy. There were robust conditions, the mixed use could be seen as an exception, the premises was not alcohol led. The police and noise team were in support and the applicant had asked for the removal of the condition, that one personal licence holder be on duty at all times, as it would be difficult to comply with this condition.  The police had accepted this amendment. One resident had reported loud music every Friday evening.  This event was a religious meditation class with chanting and would take place whether or not the licence was granted. The second objection was around planning policy. The hours were within licensing framework hours. This was a vibrant area and other premises were still trading after the hours applied for so it was not considered that there would a noise nuisance issue. He asked the Sub-Committee to grant the amended application. 

In response to questions, it was noted that customers would not be able to wander through the premises with a drink in their hand although they would be able to take a drink with them if they wished to do another activity. The applicant stated that he did not see any issue regarding a condition to allow exit and entrance onto Upper Street after 8pm. Studd Street was guarded by security. All delivery drivers would need to walk into the development. The applicant was happy to accept a minimum food order of £25 with alcohol deliveries or takeaway.

In summary, the applicant’s representative stated that this was a fairly comprehensive application and asked that the Sub-Committee grant the licence.

RESOLVED

1)      That the application for a new premises licence, in respect of Omnon, 166N Upper Street, N1 1QP, be granted to allow:-

a)      The sale of alcohol, on and off supplies, Monday to Thursday from 11am until 10.30pm, Fridays and Saturdays from 11am to 11pm and on Sundays from 11am until 10pm.

b)     The premises to be open to the public, Monday to Thursday from 11am to 11.00pm, Friday and Saturday from 11am to 11.30pm and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The licensing officer reported that the noise team and police had reached agreement with the applicant.  There was one resident representation left outstanding.

The applicant stated that the closing time for this premises was 11pm and the resident had been concerned about noise up until 1am. Conditions had been agreed with the responsible authorities.

In response to a question about deliveries, the applicant stated that they would not really have takeaways or deliveries as this was a restaurant.

RESOLVED

1)      That the application for a new premises licence, in respect of Mediterraneo 2 Restaurant, 43 Newington Green Road, N16 9PX, be granted to allow:-

a)    The sale of alcohol, on supplies only Monday to Sunday from 11am until 11pm.

b)    The premises to be open to the public, Monday to Sunday from 11am to 11pm.

2)      That conditions detailed on pages 109 to 111 of the agenda shall be applied to the licence subject to the following additional conditions:-

·       Should deliveries commence, only non-combustion engine vehicles be used.

·       Should deliveries commence, where alcohol is ordered for takeaway or delivery there be a £15 minimum order of food spend.

REASONS FOR DECISION

This meeting was facilitated by Zoom.

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.

One local resident objection had been received.  Conditions had been agreed with the police and the noise team. 

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

The Sub-Committee heard from the applicants’ representative that the applicant had agreed conditions with the police. The objector had referred to noise after midnight but the premises closed at 11pm. The applicant ran another restaurant at Kings Cross with no trouble.

The Sub-Committee concluded that the granting of the licence with the agreed conditions would promote the licensing objectives.  The Sub-Committee noted that the premises was not really operating as a takeaway or delivery but concluded that two additional conditions, to control noise in the event that deliveries started, should be imposed to protect the amenity of local residents.

The Sub-Committee noted that the hours sought were within the hours specified in licensing policy 5 and 6.  The Sub-Committee was satisfied that granting the premises licence with the additional conditions was proportionate and appropriate to the promotion of the licensing objectives.