Issue - meetings

To consider an application to allow the provision of Regulated Entertainment at the above mentioned event.

Cllr Dodds was nominated and agreed as Chair of the proceedings, and presented an outline of the procedure to be followed in hearing the application. The Committee noted the additional paperwork that had been tabled at the meeting, but felt that it was unreasonable for the Committee to be asked to take this information into account in their decision due to the lack of time to read the late documents fully. The Committee sought legal advice on whether the hearing could progress if officers of the responsible authorities and Members had not had the opportunity to read the information submitted late. The Legal Officer advised the Committee that they should ask the responsible authorities present at the meeting whether they had received information which would enable them to withdraw the representations they had made, and that if any representations remained unaddressed by the written information provided, it would be for the applicant to address those issues to the satisfaction of the Committee at the meeting. The Committee was mindful that the application was for an event scheduled for the 8^th and 9^th August 2009.

The Licensing Officer, Ms Dale Barrett, presented the report on an application for a new premises licence for the Africa Caribbean and Asia Fashion Week, Finsbury Park, 8^th and 9^th August 2009, to allow the provision of regulated entertainment. Representations against the application had been submitted by the police, noise team, fire services, parks service, building control and a local resident on the grounds of noise nuisance and public safety issues.

Mr Derek Pearce, representing the Council’s Noise Team, reported that the noise team representation had been made on the grounds of public nuisance. Organisations holding music events in the park usually employed an acoustic consultant to manage the noise output and ensure that noise did not exceed a certain level, and a dedicated phone number for complaints was also usually provided, but that these measures were not included in the application. Mr Pearce reported that the main concern of the noise team was that residents may be disturbed by noise from the event unless the noise levels were adequately controlled. In response to a question from the Committee, Mr Pearce reported that he had not seen any information in the late documents which would specifically address the representation made by the noise team.

The Committee asked whether the fact that the event was due to finish at 7pm had any bearing on the concerns of the noise team, and Mr Pearce confirmed that noise nuisance could occur at any time during the day. In response to a question from the Committee, Mr Pearce confirmed that the noise team’s representation would only be withdrawn if they were satisfied that the applicant could comply with the requirements to set and control the sound levels, carry out sound tests and monitor the sound levels throughout the event.

The applicant reported that the event was intended to be a family day out, and was scheduled  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13