Agenda item

The licensing officer reported that no further information had been received.  There were no residents present at the meeting.

The Licensing Authority stated that this had been a confused application and now the hours requested were for the sale of alcohol and regulated entertainment until 10pm each day with late night refreshment until 2am.  There was insufficient information given to explain how the premises would be operated. The premises was in a very busy area cumulative impact area and the applicant had not explained how they would deal with issues. The Police stated that they had liaised with the applicant once the application was submitted as it was a confusing application which exceeded framework hours. They were unable to agree on the late-night refreshment hours and he asked that members question the applicant to satisfy themselves regarding the excess hours. This area was extremely busy and the applicant had no mitigation to prevent anti-social behaviour.

The business partner and owner attended the meeting. He stated that he had run similar premises in Newcastle and Edinburgh until 2 and 3am. They had initially wanted live singers but after speaking to the Police had decided against this. They wished to offer hot food for Chinese students and the late hours were intended for the take away part of the business. They had spoken to students who could not find anywhere to eat after 12 am. The business partner was living above the restaurant and there was a lot of noise in the road. Anti-social behaviour was not caused by the restaurant. Their price point was at a slightly higher price than other take aways.

In response to questions, the applicant stated they would be mitigating noise by closing the front door and having a take-away only. There would be online ordering. The back door could be used for delivery and drivers could park away from the premises. The sale of alcohol until 10pm was late enough for the premises. They had decided on this area as the family owned the building and it was therefore a low cost start up. They considered that stopping the sale of alcohol until 10pm would prevent drunk customers. Alcohol would only be served with food and would be sold at a higher price point. Staff would be told how to refuse certain customers. ID would be checked. They would ask patrons who might be a problem to kindly leave the premises. The application for choral music was a mistake and karaoke was not the intention. They found that students were writing essays at midnight and wanted a late takeaway. Students who were drunk would be refused and they would have to call the police if necessary. The rear was a quiet street and they could half close the shutter on the front door. They did not create much noise during cooking and their ventilation system was top of the range. Orders would be mostly through the online platform. He stated that he would ideally use electric bikes for deliveries. The Sub-Committee reminded the applicant that there was a proposed condition that requested no motorised deliveries of takeaway food or drink.

In summary, the Licensing Authority stated that the condition about non-motorised deliveries had been previously agreed. The Licensing Authority stated that shutters should not be half closed but should be completely closed with a closed sign. She raised concerns about the hours, which were outside core hours. The police considered that there was no major reason why the hours should be until 2am, seven days a week.

The applicant stated that even 1am would be fine with them. A Sub-Committee member advised the applicant that you could choose a non-motorised option when using a delivery platform.

RESOLVED

1)      That the application for a new premises licence, in respect of Fannn, 28 Chapel Market, N1 9EN, be granted to allow:-

a)    The sale of retail of alcohol, on supplies, Mondays to Sundays from 11am to 9.30pm to allow for a half hour drinking up time.

b)    The sale of retail of alcohol off supplies, Mondays to Sundays from 11am to 9pm

c)     The provision of late night refreshment, Sundays to Thursdays from 11pm until midnight and Fridays and Saturdays from 11pm to 1am (take away only);

d)    The premises to be open to the public, Sundays to Thursdays from 11am until midnight and Fridays and Saturdays from 11am to 1am (open for orders and payments only after 10pm).

That conditions detailed on pages 154 to 158 of the agenda shall be applied to the licence with the following amendments.

·       Music to be background only.

·       The door at the front of the premises be closed to the public from 10pm with a closed sign attached.

·       Deliveries from the rear of the premises only.

·       The rear exit of the premises to be fully illuminated.

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.

Three local resident objections had been received. No residents attended the meeting.  Conditions had been agreed with the Noise Team. There were outstanding representations from the Licensing Authority and the Police.

The Sub-Committee noted that the hours sought were not within the hours specified in licensing policy 6 in relation to late night refreshment and this was the focus of concern from the Police representation. There was also concern about the size of the premises and the wide variety of entertainments proposed particularly in relation to problems with noise. However, the applicant showed a willingness to address these issues. He agreed that the inclusion of choral music entertainment was a mistake and that he had not initially appreciated how small the premises were. He accepted that background music was probably sufficient. He anticipated selling Chinese food to Chinese students and this was the reason for the request for late night refreshment. Orders would be entirely online after 10pm and he stated that the food would be picked up from the back door either by car or in person. He proposed that the front of the premises could be closed at 10pm. The Sub-Committee pointed out to him that he had a condition that deliveries should be made by non-motorised vehicles only and the applicant requested advice on how to arrange that through his online platform.

The Sub-Committee was concerned that given the conditions in Chapel Market and the cumulative impact associated with noise and anti-social behaviour at night that the applicant had failed to satisfy them as to why late-night refreshment should be granted beyond framework hours.  The Sub-Committee also had concerns about safety at the rear of the premises and considered that the rear exit should be illuminated.

However, with the conditions discussed with the applicant and added by the Sub-Committee, particularly in relation to background music only and with the reduced hours for late night refreshment, there would be no negative cumulative impact on any of the licensing objectives.

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