Agenda item

The licensing officer reported that there were no representations from any responsible authority.  There had been two resident representations. One of these had been withdrawn following an amendment to the hours requested.

The resident reported that he had emailed further comments following agenda publication and he would refer to this in his submission. He reported that the industrial unit operated 8am to 6pm and even at 5am.  It was noisy and loud.  The premises had a fridge storage container which they used at Christmas which hummed constantly. A truck would deliver once a day. He appreciated that the hours had been reduced but requested that the hours be reduced to 1pm on Saturday as they were the operation hours for the estate. There were five parking spaces and he considered that the licence would lead to an increase in deliveries and additional vehicles would cause more nuisance.

The licensing officer reported that Challenge 25 would be operated at the point of delivery.

In response to questions of the resident it was noted that the generator had been used for the Christmas period but not used for the whole year. There was activity from around 5am on the estate but the resident stated that this was not usually from La Fromagerie but was on occasion. The resident was informed that other premises may not be licensed. The planning use related to B8 as a storage and distribution point.

The applicant’s representative stated that the business had opened up the unit in 2011 and had supplied shops and wholesale businesses. They employed 20 staff and now wished to streamline their services and move the online sale of alcohol from the warehouse facility. There would be no deliveries on Sundays. The cheese deliveries themselves were not licensable. Longer hours had been applied for to give flexibility in the future but hours had been amended to 8am to 6pm. Two small delivery vans were used.  Age restriction measures had been approved by the trading standards officer.  They would not be adding any volume to the deliveries, but just adding some wine and they did not consider that this would increase the traffic to the estate.

In response to questions, it was noted that they would move to electric vehicles in the future. They currently had 2 small van collections each day for cheese deliveries and wine would be added to the existing deliveries. The applicant’s representative agreed to a minimum order of cheese with wine. He stated that if customers wanted to purchase wine only they could go to their shop. They received a couple of deliveries a week in larger vehicles. These were deliveries of cheese and not related to wine deliveries. The articulated lorry referred to by the resident was not related to the business.

In summary, the resident asked that deliveries stop at 1pm on a Saturday. The licensing officer advised the resident to contact them if he had any complaints.

The applicant’s representative stated that he did not believe disturbance was caused by their deliveries. Their business was mainly the cutting and preparing of cheese and they were trying to streamline this function and did not intend to increase volumes to a large extent.

RESOLVED

1)      That the application for a new premises licence, in respect of La Fromagerie Ltd, Unit 8, Frogmore Industrial Estate, 99 Kelvin Road, N5 2PL be granted to allow the off sale of alcohol only, from 8am to 6pm Monday to Saturday.

2)      That conditions detailed on page 70 of the agenda shall be applied to the licence with the following addition:-

·       Alcohol shall only be sold with a delivery of cheese.

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.

Two local resident objections had been received.  One resident representation had been withdrawn following amendments to the hours applied for. One resident attended. Conditions had been agreed with the noise team and trading standards. 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.

The Sub-Committee heard evidence that this was a warehouse supplying shops and upmarket restaurants. There was an associated shop in Islington selling its products, including wine. The premises licence would allow point of sale to take place from the warehouse particularly for mail order gift boxes of cheese with wine. It was explained to the resident that Challenge 25 applied on delivery to the person ordering the alcohol and members of the public did not enter the warehouse.

The resident expressed concern about noise especially in the early morning but the applicant explained that the noise was probably from other units on the estate as early morning operations would be limited to cutting and packing cheese. There were deliveries of cheese a couple of times a week at 7am - 7.30am from Italy and France but not earlier. The articulated lorry was not related to the warehouse. In answer to questions, the applicant said that he hoped to use electric vehicles in the future but at present there were two small combustible engine vans.  There would not be a particular increase in business.

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 hours sought were within the hours specified in licensing policy 6. 

The Sub-Committee was satisfied that granting the premises licence was proportionate and appropriate to the promotion of the licensing objectives.