Agenda and minutes

Councillor 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 B3, B2 and B1.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 January 2023 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

The licensing officer reported that additional papers had been circulated following agenda despatch. These included papers from the applicant, details of the visit made on the 26 March and subsequent closure notice details with the response from the applicant’s representative.

The Police reported that the premises was currently operating under a revoked licence that was currently under appeal. He stated that the business link between this new application and the previous one was for a matter for the Sub-Committee to consider. He stated that in the first instance, a new application with framework hours, with a venue that was committed and held an operation compliance manual would have largely mitigated concerns. Later hours would not have been supported. The applicant did not agree to the proposal of framework hours. A visit at the weekend of the 26 March found licence breaches in relation to the CCTV and the incident log. This visit changed the stance from the police as they would be looking at a gold standard operation for this type of venue. The serving of a closure notice was not of the high management standard expected. He stated that there had been improvement from the previous six months, but the visit had undermined confidence. The applicant’s representative had stated that issues regarding the incident log had been addressed but the police had not revisited to confirm.

The Licensing Authority stated that they fully supported the police representation. She stated that a licensing officer also attended on the 26^th and he had stated that he raised concerns about the smoking terrace, already previously raised. The drug policy was not being followed and not all customers were being searched despite this being conditioned. There were concerns about links between the two companies as they had the same office address. She stated that the Sub-Committee must have complete confidence in the applicants’, and she asked that, should the licence be granted, it should also be subject to the surrender of the previous licence.

It was confirmed that the Trading Standards officer had sent written confirmation of the withdrawal of his representation.

In response to questions, the premises was due a visit as it was rare to get an application when a premises was going through an appeal process.

The applicant’s representative asked if the witnesses for the Licensing Authority would be attending. The Chair advised that their representations were not received within the time limit, and they would not be taken into account.

The applicant’s representative referred to the bundle circulated and stated that the current Director had acquired the business in late November. The previous Director was no longer involved with the business in any way and there was a condition proposed to this affect which could be further amended by the Sub-Committee. He stated that the current appeal would be withdrawn if the licence was granted as sought. He reminded the Sub-Committee that the police had stated that this venue was currently trading and was better than the previous  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

The licensing officer reported that the applicant had agreed an end time of 11pm in line with licensing policy framework hours. Conditions had been agreed with the noise team and the police and a full set of all conditions were tabled at the meeting which included a proposed amendment by the police to condition 13. Following these conditions being agreed, all representations by the responsible authorities had been withdrawn leaving two objections from interested parties.

The applicant stated that this was an American type candy store selling sweets and drinks and he was aiming for trendy and classy alcohol drinks. He had lived in the area since 2001 and many businesses opened and then closed. He wished to remain in the area and make it a more sociable place.

In response to questions, it was  stated that he would be selling mainly drinks and snacks and advised that there would be no advertising of the alcoholic drinks. Customers would need to ask for alcohol with their Slush drink. They were aware of Challenge 25 concerns.

In summary, it was noted that the business owner had several shops and this replicated other business conditions. He was experienced in the sale of alcohol and staff would be aware of Challenge 25.

RESOLVED

1)      That the application for a new premises licence, in respect of Cally Off Licence, 338 Caledonian road, N1 1BB, be granted to allow:-

a)    Off sales of alcohol from 11.30am until 11pm Monday to Sunday.

b)    The premises to be open to the public from 8am until 11pm Monday to Sunday.

2)      Conditions tabled at the meeting shall be applied to the licence. Condition 13 will read. No spirit miniatures or other bottles below 20cl shall be sold from the premises at any time.

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 Kings Cross 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.

The Sub-Committee also took into consideration Licensing Policy 4.  The Council has adopted a special policy relating to cumulative impact in relation to shops and other premises selling alcohol for consumption off the premises.  Licensing policy 4 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 or subject to certain limitations, following the receipt of representations, unless the applicant can demonstrate in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

The licensing officer reported that a letter had been circulated from the applicant. There was one objection from a local resident who was mainly concerned about the cumulative impact.

The applicant was unable to attend the meeting and his business partner spoke in support of the application. He had worked as a chef for 15 years in Farringdon. He stated that this was a food led business which served wine with food. There would be no vertical drinking. The applicant had a premises in Dalston and was looking to move to Exmouth Market. They had read and understood the Licensing Policy. Customers would enjoy wine with their meals and perhaps take wine home with them.

In response to questions, it was noted that the seating area and smokers outside would be monitored. There was CCTV both inside and outside. They had applied for off sales. They had a separate shop that would sell alcohol and would deliver alcohol. There would be no deliveries of alcohol from this premises.

RESOLVED

1)      That the application for a new premises licence, in respect of Quite Good Food and Wine, 51 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4QL be granted to allow:-

a)    The supply of alcohol, for consumption on and off the premises from 12 noon until 10pm Sunday to Tuesday and from 12 noon until 11pm Wednesday to Saturday.

b)    The premises to be open to the public from 12 noon until 10.30pm Sunday to Tuesday and from 12 noon until 11.30pm on Wednesday to Saturday.

2)      That conditions detailed on pages 135 to 135 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.

One local resident objection had been received but the resident did not attend.  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 evidence from the chef at the premises that he had been working for 15 years in the industry and was aware of the Licensing objectives. The application was for a food led premises with no vertical drinking and in agreement with the Licensing Policy the applicant would use a waste management system used elsewhere on Exmouth Market. The applicant confirmed that they supported pubwatch and that any  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.