Agenda and draft minutes

To appoint a Chair for the duration of the meeting.

It was MOVED by Councillor Hammersley-Rich and SECONDED by Councillor Srininvasan and RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Margaret Bird as Chair of the meeting.

Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that, in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act 2011, they are required to consider in advance of each meeting whether they have a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI), some other registrable interest (ORI) or a non-registrable interest (NRI) in relation to any matter on the agenda. If advice is needed, Members should contact the Monitoring Officer in good time before the meeting.

If any Member or co-opted Member of the Council identifies a DPI or ORI which they have not already registered on the Council’s register of interests or which requires updating, they must urgently complete the disclosure form which can be obtained from Democratic Services at any time, copies of which will be available at the meeting for return to the Monitoring Officer.

Members and co-opted Members are required in general to disclose any relevant DPIs, ORIs or NRIs at the meeting –

• Where the matter relates to a DPI they may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the room unless granted a dispensation.
• Where the matter directly relates to the financial interest or wellbeing of an ORI they may not vote on the matter unless granted a dispensation.
• Where a Member or co-opted Member has an NRI which directly relates to or affects their or a relevant person’s financial interest or wellbeing, whether they can participate in any discussion or vote on the matter or stay in the room depends on the detailed rules in paragraphs 7 of Appendix B of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

The Chair will invite Members to make their disclosure of interests orally at the meeting and they will also be recorded in the minutes.

Councillor Hammersley-Rich disclosed that she was a Councillor for Woodside ward and she had not had any previous involvement with the applications being considered during the meeting.

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 was none.

The Sub-Committee is asked to consider the objection notice given by Environmental Health in respect of a temporary event notice given by Marian Reid for proposed licensable activities on 11 and 12 January 2025 at 44B Portland Road, South Norwood, SE25 4PQ.

The Chair outlined the procedures for the Licensing Hearing in line with the Licensing Act 2003 and the Council’s protocol.

The Premises User, Miss Marian Reid was present.

Mr Robinson, the director for Socca Cheta was present.

The objector, Joe Mesure (Pollution Enforcement Officer), who had submitted representations was also present.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing introduced the application to the Sub Committee.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing explained that the Council’s pollution team had issued an objection notice following receipt of a temporary event notice received from Marion Reed in respect of proposed licensable activities at 44b Portland Road, South Norwood, SE25 on the 11th and 12th of January 2025.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing informed the Sub Committee that the applicant sought to provide the sale by retail of alcohol and the provision of late-night refreshment from 4pm to midnight on the 11th of January and from midnight to 2am on the 12th of January.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing explained that a copy of the objection notice had been sent to Marion Reed and Members had been provided with further information including a community protection notice, statements from residents and a video clip taken by a resident during an event on the premises. 

The objecting party, Joe Mesure, was given the opportunity to speak. Joe Mesure advised:

• He objected to the temporary event notice as he believed that allowing the event to go ahead would undermine the public nuisance licensing objective and impact local residents negatively.
• SoccaCheta had not done enough to show officers that they had appropriate noise mitigation measures in place to prevent public nuisance.
• The Councils Pollution Team first received a complaint in June 2023 and since then they had received over 20 complaints from 7 different residents, the main issue with the events was the loud music and behaviour of their customers after 11pm.
• Officers had three impact statements from local residents, and it was quite disturbing to hear how they had been affected by these events.
• In the past they had allowed events to go ahead to see if there was an improvement in the measures used to manage the disruption to residents but there had not been any noticeable improvement.
• Officers were willing to work with the applicant to help them to run events more smoothly in future.
• His colleague visited the centre, and he spoke to the manager Mr. Robinson, Mr. Robinson stated that he would do his best to minimise the noise, however, officers had still received complaints from residents following the visit.
• His senior colleague has had meetings with the community centre, police licensing and phone calls with the manager and things have still had not improved.
• The video which Members were sent was taken from the property of someone who had been affected by the noise of their events.
• Officers were not suggesting that they could not hold  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4/25

The Sub-Committee is asked to consider the objection notice given by Environmental Health in respect of a temporary event notice given by Marian Reid for proposed licensable activities on 25 and 26 January 2025 at 44B Portland Road, South Norwood, SE25 4PQ.

The Chair outlined the procedures for the Licensing Hearing in line with the Licensing Act 2003 and the Council’s protocol.

The Premises User, Miss Marian Reid was present.

Mr Robinson, the director for Socca Cheta was present.

The objector, Joe Mesure (Pollution Enforcement Officer), who had submitted representations was also present.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing introduced the application to the Sub Committee.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing explained that the Councils Pollution Team had issued an objection to a temporary event notice submitted by Miss Marian Reed, in respect of proposed licensable activities at 44b Portland Road, South Norwood SE25 on the 25th and 26th of January 2025. 

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing informed the Sub Committee that the application sought the sale by retail of alcohol and the provision of late-night refreshment from 2pm to midnight on the 25th January and from midnight to 2am on Sunday the 26th January.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing stated that the Council had received further information from Mr Robinson, in response to the objection notice and the pollution team also forwarded some further information in support of their objection. The meeting agenda included a copy of the Community Protection Notice warning, three statements from residents who had raised concerns about the premises in support of the objection notice and a video clip taken by a resident during an event on the premises.

The objecting party, Joe Mesure, was given the opportunity to speak. Joe Mesure advised:

• He objected to the temporary event notice as he believed that allowing the event to go ahead would undermine the public nuisance objective and impact the local residents greatly.
• Residents were affected by loud, amplified music particularly after 11pm and the behaviour of their customers.
• Socco Cheta had not done enough to show officers that they had sufficient noise mitigation measures in place to prevent the occurrence of public nuisance.
• The Pollution Team had received over 20 complaints since the case opened in June 2023 from 7 complainants and the last complaint that they had received was on the 16^th December 2024.
• After initial complaints received by the team, an officer visited the premises on the 23^rd June 2023 and spoke to Mr. Robinson about the complaint. The officer was told that they would do everything they could to minimise the noise, however the team continued to receive complaints after the visit.
• In July 2023, an officer visited the premises and suggested that a noise limiter should be installed, however the team continued to receive complaints after this visit.
• In September 2023, officers from the Pollution and Police Licensing Teams visited the premises to discuss a complaint. The premises was advised on what they could do to minimise the impact of noise on the residents, however the team continued to received complaints after the visit.
• The Senior Pollution Enforcement Officer had made several attempts to contact  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5/25

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

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

A motion was moved to exclude the press and public during the course of the meeting for the following reasons:

The Licensing Sub-Committee deemed it appropriate to exclude the public from part of the hearing having considered the nature of some of the evidence that was to be taken into account. In making this decision, the public interest test was considered and it was felt necessary to hear the relevant evidence in private, as in doing so it outweighed the public interest in hearing the relevant evidence in public.

On this basis the motion was put forward and agreed by the Committee to exclude the press and public for a portion of the meeting.