Agenda and draft minutes

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The Chair referred to the filming of meetings and this information was noted.  

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were none.

There was no urgent business.  

There were no declarations of interest.  

The Chair will explain the procedure that the Committee will follow for the hearing considered under the Licensing Act 2003.

The Chair provided a summary of the procedure for the meeting.  

To consider an application for a new premises licence.

Presentation by the Licensing Officer

Ms Daliah Barrett, Licensing Team Leader, informed the Sub-Committee that:

·         The application sought late night refreshment and the sale of alcohol, which would be supplied on and off the premises. The premises would be open to the public Sunday to Thursday 11:00 to 01:00 and 11:00 to 02:00 Friday to Saturday.

·         The applicant was also requesting a terminal hour of 02:00 on Valentine's Day, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

·         Representations had been submitted by the Noise team, Police and a resident.

·         Page 17 onwards had the proposed conditions put forward on the application itself.

·         The applicant had been informed earlier in the day in relation to the use of the premises regarding the hours. The current planning permission for the premises meant that the applicant would not be able to operate beyond its allowed planning hours, shown at section 2.1 in the report.

Presentation by the applicant

Mr Nick Semper, representative for the applicant, informed the Sub-Committee that:

·         The applicant was an experienced and successful operator. He had been involved in running restaurants for many years and owned two other businesses in the same road, so he knew the area and the people.

·         In all those years, the premises he ran never came to the attention of any responsible authority.

·         The premises used to be a top-class Caribbean Grill which opened from 10:00 to 23:00 daily.

·         The premises would be a restaurant called Love Latin and would specialise in Mediterranean cuisine. Alcohol would only be served to a to seated diners and would be ancillary to a substantial table meal.

·         Alcohol would only be served by waiter or waitress service. Only alcohol for consumption off the premises would be sold only via take away or collection order. These may only be provided in sealed containers, marked as originating from the premises itself and provided to the customer within the packaging of a takeaway food order.

·         Patrons would not be permitted to remove drinks in open bottles or glasses or any other open vessel from the premises.

·         The hours applied for were not excessive, because having dealt with many restaurants in the night time economy himself, the hours applied for were less than quite a few of the ones he had dealt with in the past.

·         The applicant sought for a terminal hour of 01:00 Sunday to Thursday and 02:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.

·         The conditions proposed in the operating schedule were designed to ensure robust promotion of the licencing objectives and a safe, legal and compliant operation in every respect.

·         It was not until earlier this afternoon that he finally managed to obtain documents relating to the planning permission to convert the premises into a restaurant. This dated from 2020 and the planning decision made then still stood.

·         The premises could not operate in any form after 2300 and the applicant would not operate beyond those hours due to planning restrictions. However, the applicant was also in the process of engaging a planning consultant  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider an application for a new premises licence.

Presentation by the Licensing Officer

Ms Daliah Barrett, Licensing Team Leader, informed the Sub-Committee that:

·         The application sought sale of alcohol from 07:00 Monday to Thursday until 00:00 Friday to Sunday. The premises would be open to the public from 07:00 to 02:00. The application also sought late night refreshment and regulated entertainment until 02:00.

·         There were various additional days that were specified in the application such as Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day where the application sought operating hours from 07:00 until 03:00. This included the day preceding bank holidays.

·         Representations had been received from the Police, the Noise team and a resident.

·         The premises had a rear area which is a had been operated as a shisha area and the applicant’s representative had stated that it would be used as a shisha area.

·         The rear area of the premises did not have planning permission to operate as a shisha lounge or as a restaurant, as it was still designated as a garage. However, the applicant intended to operate it differently.

·         The application included a dispersal policy and representations had been received from the Police and Noise team.

·         The applicant’s representative had agreed to reduce the hours of operation. The proposed terminal hour was 23:00. However, the applicant’s representative had subsequently requested that the rear area be allowed to remain open until 02:00. This would have been the most noise-sensitive area, as it was not properly structured.

In response to questions, Ms Barrett informed the Sub-Committee that:    

·         Shisha smoking was not a licensable activity. It was rare to receive applications stating that the premises would be used for shisha smoking. This information was usually found out long after the application was submitted and usually by then, shelters would have been built and often they were non-compliant or had planning permission.

Presentation by the applicant

Mr Olusola, representing the applicant, informed the Sub-Committee that:

·         The application sought the following licensable activities: supply of alcohol Monday to Thursday from 07:00 to 00:00 and on 07:00 to 02:00 Friday to Sunday, playing of recorded music from 23:00 to 02:00 Friday to Sunday, late night refreshment, 23:00 to 02:00 Friday to Sunday.

·         The application also requested special timings for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve which would be 10:00 to 03:00.

·         Representations had been received from the Police, Noise team and a resident. The Police based their objections on the four licensing objectives and believed that the requested timings were excessive due to the geographical location and proximity to the residents.

·         When considering the weekend timings, the applicant had included a comprehensive set of conditions. Approximately 23 conditions were attached to the application.

·         In accordance with the Police’s recommendations, the applicant agreed to the stipulated conditions, with the exception of the prohibition on patrons from accessing the rear side of the premises from 22:30 onwards.

·         In light of the recent information regarding the rear side of the premises, the applicant had come to the conclusion that patrons  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.