Agenda and minutes

Councillor Nick Wayne welcomed everyone to the meeting and officers and members introduced themselves.  The licensing officer introduced herself, the applicant and the interested parties. The procedure for the conduct of the meeting was outlined.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Paul Convery.

Councillor Phil Graham substituted for Councillor Paul Convery.

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 17 December 2020 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

The licensing officer reported that a summary from the applicant and a petition had been circulated separately. The applicant had held a meeting with two residents and had offered a condition that deliveries to the premises should be between 9am and 5pm. The applicant confirmed that this condition should be from Mondays to Fridays.

The Licensing Authority stated that her representation had been submitted before the police, noise team and trading standards had agreed conditions with the applicant. The premises was in a cumulative impact area but it was accepted that this was not a normal off-licence. Delivery vans and drivers went into a loading bay inside the premises. There were concerns remaining, particularly regarding the training of staff for Challenge 25 and difficult customers and particularly regarding the end point of delivery of alcohol rather than from the premises.

In response to a question regarding the lack of representation from public health it was noted that this was a busy time for the team and also there were not many off licences or delivery businesses in this particular area.

A local resident spoke in objection to the application and stated that a petition had been circulated with over 40 signatures. The objections were mainly noise from the business operation and concerns about a 24 hour licence for alcohol near the residential block with 25 flats. She stated that the meeting held with the applicant had been productive but was concerned about the potential for a huge business on the doorstep. This was a very narrow road. She was grateful that the delivery times to the premises had been amended but there was still the issue regarding deliveries going out and the potential noise nuisance and safety. She had concerns that this bordered on Islington and Camden and all issues had not been taken into account.

In response to questions the residents raised concerns that with the addition of the sale of alcohol the business could become a bigger operation. The resident stated that she contacted the business at the end of January when she had seen the application advertised on a lamp post. She did not hear anything from the applicant until they invited her to a meeting this weekend. She was unable to attend and it was rearranged for yesterday. She welcomed the amendment to the change in times for deliveries to the premises but was concerned about the noise of deliveries from the premises. This was a very narrow street and she considered that the noise from increased traffic would add to the noise level and the noise would echo around the building. The resident clarified that she had contacted the applicant directly on the 28 January.

The applicant’s agent stated that Getir was an established business that had been brought to the UK. There were other sites in other Boroughs. The business model was to deliver groceries to homes. It was not alcohol led and was a small part of the business. He accepted that he  ...  view the full minutes text for item 108.

The licensing officer reported that the resident representation had been withdrawn once it was clarified that the application was until midnight. That left two councillor representations. There had been no representation made by responsible authorities.

The applicant stated that the business was a steamed bao bun restaurant offering takeaway. The applicant wished to give the opportunity for customers to purchase alcohol with their food. Staff were fully trained and this training would be refreshed every six months. There was no vertical drinking and the business was not alcohol led. There was an off licence directly opposite which was open 24 hours. The hours proposed were not to cause disturbance to local residents. The food offered was mainly takeaway. The premises was in the Kings Cross cumulative impact area and the business had a responsible ethos, had conditions to minimise disturbance and was looking for a good relationship with residents.

In response to questions it was noted that alcohol proposed to be sold would be wine and beer with no spirits.

RESOLVED

1)     That the application for a new premises licence, in respect of Bunco and Wrap, 53 Caledonian Road, N1, be granted to allow:-

·      The sale of alcohol, on and off sales, from 11am to 11pm Sunday to Thursday and from 11am until midnight Friday and Saturday. 

·      The provision of late night refreshment from 11pm until midnight Friday and Saturday;

·      Opening hours from 8am until 11pm Sunday to Thursday and from 8am until midnight on Friday and Saturday.

2)        Conditions detailed on pages 66 to 68 of the agenda shall be applied to the licence.

REASONS FOR DECISION

This meeting was held under regulations made under the Coronavirus Act 2020 and it 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.

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 operation schedule that there will be no negative cumulative impact on one or more of the licensing objectives.

There were two representations from Ward Councillors based on the fact that the premises was in a cumulative impact zone but they did not attend the meeting.  A resident had objected on the grounds that the premises would be open until 5 am but withdrew on realising this was a misunderstanding. There had been no representations made by the responsible authorities.

The Sub-Committee noted that the hours sought were within the hours specified in licensing policy 6.  Conditions had been agreed with the police and the noise team.

The Sub-Committee heard evidence that this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 109.