Agenda item

The licensing officer stated that a copy of the applicant’s business plan and a letter had been sent to the sub-committee and interested parties.

Two residents were in attendance and stated that they were not aware of any premises in the area with outside seating until 10pm and they were concerned about potential broken bottles, the walkway being impeded and noise at closing time. Concern was raised about the density of local licensed premises and their impact, in particular the noise at closing time and litter left by smokers at the entrance to Leo’s Yard as well as smokers congregating outside one of the resident’s premises when it was raining due to there being shelter from the balcony above. One of the residents had a child that was regularly woken up by the noise of those leaving licensed premises on Great Sutton Street. Concern was raised that Le Cellar would become a quasi-nightclub/bar and that granting this licence would add to the congestion at the narrow and already congested junction of Great Sutton Street and St John’s Street.

The applicants stated that the premises had previously been licensed. The application hours were within the core hours and the premises would not become a late night venue. The premises was a fine dining restaurant and was not a pub. Wine would be sold as small measures only (125ml), there would be no drinks promotions and the premises had restricted the number of patrons to 39. There would be two tables outside with no more than six seats in total. The applicants did not want a restriction on alcohol only being served with food as they wanted to offer wine tastings.

One of the applicants had 15 years’ experience as a sommelier and the other had had been a health and safety manager. They stated that they both had a personal licence and there would be a licence holder on the premises at all times.

The applicants stated that in order to promote the licensing objectives, there would be CCTV inside and outside the premises, table service outside would reduce noise and staff would go outside as soon as someone sat down, the outside tables and chairs would be removed by 10pm, staff would be well managed, there would only be background music, patrons would be asked to leave quietly and a Challenge 25 policy would be operated.

In response to members’ questions, the applicants advised that a 125ml glass of wine would cost between £6 and £10, it was anticipated that those just having a drink would stay for approximately 30 minutes and those dining would spend approximately 2 hours in the premises. In addition, the outside tables and chairs would not be out in winter, there would be no awning or outdoor heaters, smokers would be reminded to be quiet and a sign asking them to be quiet outside would be placed on the door. The applicants stated that residents who experienced any issues, could contact them and they would seek a solution.

In response to a member’s question as to whether rendering the outside tables and chairs unusable by 9pm would resolve the residents’ issues, they stated it would not.

RESOLVED:

That the application for a new premises licence in respect of Le Cellar, 130 St John Street, EC1V 4JS be granted

1)         To allow the sale by retail of alcohol, on and off supplies, from 11.00 until 22:30 Monday to Thursday and from 11:00 until 23:30 on Friday and Saturday.

2)         Opening hours to be:-  08:30 to 23:00 on Monday to Thursday and 08:30 to 00:00 Friday and Saturday.

Conditions detailed on pages 115 and 116 of the agenda shall be applied to the licence with condition 15 amended to read “The outdoor seating area shall be restricted to 6 people and until 10pm. Any tables and chairs shall be taken out of use and rendered unusable by 22:00”.

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 Bunhill 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.

Eight written objections from local residents had been received and two interested parties were in attendance at the hearing.  There had been no representations made by the responsible authorities. The Sub-Committee noted that the premises would hold 39 customers and that it was proposed there would be two outside tables with a capacity for six people. The Sub-Committee were satisfied that this was a small operation and that the applicants had reduced the number of outside tables in their application.

The interested parties raised concerns about the proposed outside seating, smokers gathering outside the premises, noise nuisance and an increase to the cumulative impact in the area. The Sub-Committee noted these concerns but were satisfied by the submissions put forward by the applicants and the details of their operating schedule that the licensing objectives would be promoted.

The Sub-Committee considered that the application fell within an exception to the Bunhill cumulative impact policy in that it would encourage people to stay in the area after work and support the wider cultural offer in the area. The proposed hours of operation were consistent with framework hours and the applicants had demonstrated a high standard of management.

The Sub-Committee considered whether the outside tables should be rendered unusable by 9pm but noted that the interested parties did not consider that this would reduce any impact caused by the operation of the premises. The Sub-Committee amended condition 15 to clarify that the outside tables should be taken out of use and rendered unusable by 10pm.

The Sub-Committee concluded that the premises would not add to the existing cumulative impact in the Bunhill area and that there would be no negative cumulative impact on the licensing objectives.