Agenda and minutes

To appoint a Chair for the duration of the meeting.

It was MOVED by Councillor Margaret Bird and SECONDED by Councillor Ria Patel and RESOLVED, to:

Appoint Councillor Patsy Cummings as chair for the meeting.

Members are invited to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and other registrable and non-registrable interests they may have in relation to any item(s) of business on today’s agenda.

In the interests of openness and transparency, Councillor Cummings declared she had previously been ward councillor for South Norwood ward.

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business.

The Sub-Committee is asked to determine whether to grant the application for a variation to a premises licence at 281 South Norwood Hill, SE25 6DP.

The Chair outlined the procedures for the licensing hearing in line with the Licensing Act, and then introduced the applicant and objector to the meeting.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing described the various types of licensable activity that could be applied for, and stated that licences could be varied by application. The application in question was to vary the existing hours of a licensable activity and to include the provision of late-night refreshment.

Councillor Claire Bonham, objecting to the application on behalf of residents, informed the committee that she was happy with the conditions that had been applied to the application since it had been made, and that she believed it would mitigate the concerns that residents had expressed.

The applicant then spoke and informed the committee that they were requesting the extended hours of licensable activity due to increased financial pressures. The applicant expressed that the business was keen to have positive relationships with its neighbours, and that they felt the conditions applied were stringent enough to ensure this. The applicant assured the sub-committee that they would encourage better dialogue with residents, and that they were keen to maintain an open dialogue with neighbours and the council to ensure the licensing objectives were protected.

In response to questions from members the applicant explained that:

·             They would ensure that outside activity was limited to smoking past 10 pm;

·             They would prevent patrons from congregating outside on the street past 10 pm;

·             Only table service would be available after 10 pm; and,

·             Security provision would be in place.

The sub-committee thanked the applicant and objector for attending and informed them that a decision would be made within the statutory time period.

After the hearing the sub-committee withdrew to the virtual deliberation room and RESOLVED, to GRANT the application subject to conditions detailed in the decision notice as follows:

LONDON BOROUGH OF CROYDON

STATEMENT OF LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE DECISION

LICENSING ACT 2003 - Application For Variation To A Premises Licence at 281 South Norwood Hill, SE25 6DP

Details of decision:

The Licensing Sub-Committee considered the Application for a Variation of a Premises Licence at 281 South Norwood Hill SE25 6DP and the representations received as contained in the report of the Corporate Director Sustainable Communities, Regeneration and Economic Recovery and the additional documentary evidence submitted by the Applicant prior to the hearing and incorporated in the supplementary information published as an addendum to the report.

The Sub-Committee also considered the representations made by the Applicant, their Agent and a ward councillor on behalf of residents during the hearing.

The Sub-Committee, having reference to the licensing objectives under the Licensing Act 2003 (“the Act”) and the Council Licensing Policy, RESOLVED to GRANT the application subject to conditions detailed below which had been offered by the Applicant following discussions with the Police and the mandatory statutory conditions which apply to the sale of alcohol under a premises license issued under the Act, on the basis that the Sub-Committee were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25/22

The Sub-Committee is asked to determine whether to grant the application for a premises licence at 83-84 High Street, South Norwood, SE25 6EA.

The Chair then welcomed the applicant and objector to the hearing and outlined the protocol for the benefit of all parties. The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing again described the types of licensable activity that could be applied for in line with the Licensing Act 2003, and informed the committee that this was an application for the sale by retail of alcohol Monday to Sunday 11 am to midnight, for the playing of recorded music with the same hours, and with a closing time of 0030 hours the following morning. Officers asked members to note that the applicant had amended their application to include certain conditions following discussion with the police, which would apply should the committee decide to grant the application. There were also some amendments to the requested hours, which were detailed in Appendix A2 to the report.

The Chair then invited the objector to speak, who informed that committee that:

·       The premises had a history of breaching licensing conditions;

·       There had been anti-social behaviour issues caused by patrons of the previously licensed premises;

·       The area was saturated with bars and that patrons of these premises congregated in the narrow pavements drinking outside the premises, which intimidated residents;

·       The high street on which the premises was situated was very narrow and the congregations of people drinking outside premises caused traffic issues, causing vehicles to sound their horns late at night;

·       The venue was already promoting events that involved licensable activity even though it did not have a current alcohol licence;

·       There had been instances of activity going on in the basement outside of licensed hours;

·       Flat above the premises would suffer a lot of noise nuisance; and,

·       People entering and leaving the premises also caused nuisance to residents.

The applicant was then offered the opportunity to speak to the sub-committee. On behalf of the applicant, the Applicant’s Agent, Robert Sutherland informed the sub-committee that:

·       The Applicant is a new operator of the premises and is separate from the former operator.

·        The previous licence holder whose licence was revoked following a number of breaches of the licensing conditions would not have any involvement in the running of the business under the new licence should it be granted;

·        There was a hatched area not included in the original plan submitted, subsequently agreed with Police which would cover part of the area where patrons could stand, despite the ground floor being predominantly table service only;

·       Following discussions with police and the Local Authority robust licensing conditions as detailed in the Appendix to the report would be applied to the licence should it be granted, including reduction to the hours of licensable activity, and that regulated entertainment was restricted to take place in the basement only; and,

·       The applicant had 25 years’ worth of experience in the hospitality industry, and that they also worked in a hotel, meaning that a breach of conditions was not likely.

The sub-committee questioned the advertisements for ticket sales that were live on a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26/22

The following motion is to be moved and seconded where it is proposed to exclude the press and public during the course of a meeting:

Pursuant to the provisions of regulation 14 paragraph (2) of the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005, the licensing authority may exclude the public from all or part of a hearing where it considers that the public interest in so doing outweighs the public interest in the hearing, or that part of the hearing, taking place in public. For the purposes of paragraph (2), a party and any person assisting or representing a party may be treated as a member of the public. In light of the possibility of disclosing personal data if the photographs circulated by a party to the hearing were made available in public, members of the committee will be asked to agree to exclude the public from the hearing to enable members to view the photographs on the basis that doing so outweighs the public interest in that part of the hearing taking place in public.

This was not required.