Agenda and minutes

MOVED by Councillor Mark Harrison, SECONDED by Councillor Diana Braithwaite and:

RESOLVED: That Councillor Matthew Bennett be elected as Chair of the meeting.

Under Standing Order 4.4, where any councillor has a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (as defined in the Members’ Code of Conduct (para. 4)) in any matter to be considered at a meeting of the Council, a committee, sub-committee or joint committee, they must withdraw from the meeting room during the whole of the consideration of that matter and must not participate in any vote on that matter unless a dispensation has been obtained from the Monitoring Officer.

Councillor Mark Harrison stated that one of the applications on the agenda (item 4b – Mansion House) was located in his ward and that, while this was not a disclosable pecuniary interest, he wished to stand down for this item as he knew some of the objectors. Councillor Florence Nosegbe would therefore sit as a substitute for the consideration of this application.

To approve and sign the minutes of the hearings held on 30 August and 13 September 2012 as correct records of the proceedings.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the previous meetings held on 30 August and 13 September 2012 be approved and signed by the Chair as correct records of the proceedings.

(Report 111/12-13 and appendices)

Executive Director of Housing, Regeneration and Environment.

Contact: John Smith, Licensing Manager, 020 7926 6140

Email: Jsmith5@lambeth.gov.uk

Presentation by the Head of Consumer Protection and Sustainability

The Sub-Committee was informed that this was an application for a new premises licence. The Sub-Committee’s attention was drawn to chapters 8, 9 and 10 of the Statutory Guidance, and to Sections 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 of the Statement of Licensing Policy, as the ones particularly relevant to this application. The options available to the Sub-Committee were set out in paragraph 5.9 of the report on page 28.

In response to questions from Members, the Head of Consumer Protection and Sustainability confirmed:

• This was a new application for supply of alcohol, recorded music and late night refreshment to midnight Sunday to Thursday, and 2am Friday and Saturday
• A schedule of conditions had been agreed with the police; these were included in the agenda pack at pages 107-108
• As part of these conditions, the applicant had agreed that recorded music be played only at background level. This meant that recorded music need not be included on the licence, since background music was not a licensable activity
• 21 representations had been received from local residents relating to public nuisance, public safety and crime and disorder

A map and photographs of the premises were circulated.

Presentation by the Applicant

Mr George Mitchell, applicant, alongside his representative Mr Graham Hopkins, informed the Sub-Committee that:

• They wished to withdraw the application for recorded music and to amend the hours of the application to cease licensable activities at 2300 Sunday to Thursday, closing at 2330, and 0030 Friday and Saturday, closing at 0100. They also agreed not to use the rear garden at all, except for storing cleaning materials
• Mr Mitchell had worked for 3-4 years in a pub and had run events such as birthday parties in the past
• Paradise Cove was an Afro-Caribbean restaurant with 24 covers. A licence was sought to enhance the business and prevent Mr Mitchell losing out to other venues which offered alcohol
• Customers who wished to smoke would do so outside the front of the premises and would be limited to six at any one time. Notices would be put up to this effect
• Customers would not be able to take drinks outside so this would reduce the likelihood of loitering
• Tables and chairs would remain in situ; this meant there was no way the venue could turn into a vertical drinking establishment
• Mr Mitchell would work with the local Safer Neighbourhood Team and report any drug dealing or use to the police straight away
• There had been no representations from responsible authorities and it was felt that the amendments and conditions put forward would ensure the venue did not adversely affect residents

In response to questions from Members, Mr Mitchell and Mr Hopkins confirmed:

• They were willing to accept a condition stipulating that drinks be served only with food
• They anticipated roughly a 70/30 split between food and drink in the business model
• The Temporary Event Notices (TENs) submitted in the past year were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4a

Presentation by the Head of Consumer Protection and Sustainability

The Sub-Committee was informed that this was an application for a variation to the current premises licence. The Sub-Committee’s attention was drawn to chapters 8, 9 and 10 of the Statutory Guidance, and to Sections 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and, in particular, 14 of the Statement of Licensing Policy, as the ones particularly relevant to this application. The options available to the Sub-Committee were set out in paragraph 5.8 of the report on page 28.

In response to questions from Members, the Head of Consumer Protection and Sustainability confirmed:

• This was an application to vary the licence granted on 17 July 2012 to include the front outside area within the licensable area, extend opening hours by half an hour, and remove the condition imposed by the Licensing Sub-Committee limiting the use of the outside area to 10pm
• Eight representations had been received from residents, the police licensing unit and the Council’s Noise Team

A map and photographs of the premises were circulated.

Presentation by the Applicant

Mr Paul Hook, applicant, alongside his representative Graham Hopkins, informed the Sub-Committee that:

• The area to the front of the premises was to be added as a consumption area only – no licensable activity would take place there
• Mr Hook and his partner had a pavement licence to place tables and chairs in the outside area until midnight and were seeking to bring the premises licence into line with this
• They were also seeking to add a 30 minute drinking up period and therefore extend the opening hours by half an hour
• The pub was not yet trading as it was still undergoing refurbishment; this meant the objections were largely speculative
• Regarding the appropriate terminal hour for use of the outside area, the police had suggested 6pm but the Noise Officer and the previous Licensing Sub-Committee were happy with 10pm. The Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy suggested 6pm for a non-commercial area and 11pm for a commercial area
• Mr Hook and Mr Hopkins considered Kennington Park Road to be a commercial area as it was a busy street with a Tesco and another pub in the near vicinity as well as additional commercial premises slightly further afield
• A recent ruling stated that policy should not be applied rigidly and the circumstances of each individual case had to be taken into consideration
• The noise generated from the outside area of the pub would be largely drowned out by traffic
• The flats above the pub, which could potentially experience noise disturbance, were also owned by Mr Hook. They were all double glazed and the residents had his phone number in case of any problems
• There would be no music outside – only eating and drinking
• They believed that the addition of a 30 minute drinking up period would help to stagger the dispersal of patrons from the venue
• The application did not seek to extend any of the licensable activity already granted

In response to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4b

Presentation by the Head of Consumer Protection and Sustainability

The Sub-Committee was informed that this was an application for a new premises licence. The Sub-Committee’s attention was drawn to chapters 8, 9 and 10 of the Statutory Guidance, and to Sections 5, 7, 8, 9 and 11 of the Statement of Licensing Policy, as the ones particularly relevant to this application. The options available to the Sub-Committee were set out in paragraph 5.9 of the report on page 28.

In response to questions from Members, the Head of Consumer Protection and Sustainability confirmed:

• This was a new application for off sales of alcohol, the previous licence having been revoked in March 2012 following underage test purchases
• Consideration of the application was postponed on 30 August 2012 to allow further investigation into possible connections between the proposed management and the previous management under whom the test purchases took place
• It had since been confirmed that the proposed Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS), Mr Shahbaz, became DPS of the premises after the failed test purchases
• The application was originally for 24 hours a day but following discussions with the police this had been amended to 7am to 11pm Monday to Saturday, and 7am to 10pm on Sunday
• A schedule of conditions had also been agreed with the police. These were included in the agenda pack at pages 47-48
• Two representations had been received – one from a ward councillor and one from a local resident

A map and photographs of the premises were circulated.

Presentation by the Applicant

Mr Graham Hopkins, representing applicant Mohammad Akbar and proposed DPS Muhammad Shahbaz, informed the Sub-Committee that:

• They were happy to agree the conditions regarding miniature bottles of spirits, alcohol being stored in lockable shutters, and litter collection in the immediate vicinity of the shop, as proposed by one of the objectors, Mr Nicolaides. The suggested conditions regarding multipacks and super strength alcohol had already been agreed with the police but they were happy to set the strength limit at 5.5% rather than 6%. There would be a refusals book in operation but this would not be open to public inspection for data protection reasons. They were also offering to implement a Challenge 25 policy
• It was acknowledged that there were problems with street drinking in the area but the agreed conditions would tackle this

In response to questions from Members, the applicants confirmed:

• Mr Shahbaz had worked at the shop for around a year and had held a personal licence since 2009
• In order to ensure the effective management of the shop, Mr Shahbaz stated he would not serve underage or drunk people. CCTV would be installed and the police would be called in the event of any problems
• When asked what Challenge 25 meant and how the policy would be enforced, Mr Shahbaz stated after a great deal of hesitation that he would ask customers for ID
• Street drinkers would be refused service and an entry made in the refusals book  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4c