Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business. (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items will be considered at item 7 below).

There were no items of urgent business.

A member with a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered must disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest at the commencement of that consideration, or when the interest becomes apparent.

A member with a personal interest in a matter also has a prejudicial interest in that matter if the interest is one which a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the member’s judgement of the public interest and if this interest affects their financial position or the financial position of a person or body as described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct and/or if it relates to the determining of any approval, consent, licence, permission or registration in relation to them or any person or body described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting of the Licensing Sub Committee B held on 30 April 2012.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 30 April 2012 be approved and signed by the Chair.

The Chair will explain the procedure that the Committee will follow for the hearing considered under the Licensing Act 2003 or the Gambling Act 2005. A copy of the procedure is attached.

NOTED

To consider an application to allow the Supply of Alcohol, the Provision of Late Night Refreshment, Indoor Sporting Events, Provision of Live Music, Recorded Music, Performances of Dance, Provision of anything of a similar description to that of live or recorded music or performances of dance, Provision of Facilities for Dancing, Provision of Facilities for Entertainment of a similar description to that of Making Music or Dancing.

The Licensing Officer, Daliah Barrett, presented the report on an application by Abhishek Beltharia for a new premises licence at Markfield Arts Ltd, 100-108 Markfield Road, London N15 4QF. Ms Barrett advised the Committee that the representation made by the police in respect of this application had subsequently been withdrawn, but that representations had been made by Environmental Health, Building Control, the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority and from a number of interested parties. It was confirmed that, subsequent to the report being produced, the applicants wished to reduce the capacity sought from 2,000 to 850 persons.

Derek Pearce, Enforcement Response, addressed the Committee in respect of the representation made by Environmental Health and raised the following points in his presentation and responses to questions from Members:

• The application did not address the issue of noise nuisance being caused to nearby business units; as a result, wording relating to nearby industrial property had been proposed in respect of the condition relating to sound limits.
• Environmental Health recommended that all doors and windows should remain closed during use from 11pm to 10am, when relevant. Mechanical ventilation was recommended in order to address ventilation issues.
• In order to protect residential properties, it was included in the operating schedule that sound limits be managed at the premises such that noise was inaudible at the boundary of residential properties. The specific concern of Environmental Health was that no such proposal had been made in respect of industrial units, which was why appropriate wording was being proposed in their representation.
• The applicants requested a specific dB level to work to, as this could be managed more easily than the subjective definition of ‘inaudible’. Mr Pearce agreed that this could be looked into, but would require an assessment of the existing background noise levels. It was emphasised that the essential principle had to be that of inaudibility. A set dB level was not set for most premises, as most did not have acoustic engineers on site.

The Fire Officer addressed the Committee, and raised the following points in respect of their representation and in response to questions asked by the Committee:

• The main concerns were identified as the capacity of the venue and that the risk assessments produced were not suitable for the nature of the vents proposed.
• While the capacity sought had been reduced to 850, it was still felt that this was excessive for the widths of the premises exits and that, until further plans to address this were submitted, the Fire Authority would recommend a maximum capacity of 450.
• With regards to the lack of risk assessments specific to different event-types, the applicants had confirmed that this was an issue that would be addressed.
• In order to increase the safe capacity of the building, the Fire Officer confirmed that there would need to be an increase in the number of exit routes from the building.
• In response to a question regarding access at the rear of the premises by turning left, the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

To consider an application to permit licensable activity under a temporary event notice, namely: the sale of alcohol and the provision of regulated entertainment.

The Licensing Officer, Dale Barrett, presented the report on an objection made by Environmental Health to a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) at The Pavilion, 185A Park Road, N8. As a consequence of the recent Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act, Environmental Health were now a responsible authority with the ability to lodge objections to TENs.

Derek Pearce, Enforcement Response, outlined the objection to the TENs application for the 30^th June, for the provision of alcohol and regulated entertainment between 0000 and 0400. Mr Pearce made the following points:

• The specific concern was the Regulated Entertainment aspect of the application, as there was a background of noise complaints associated with the premises, particularly in relation to an event held on 26 May 2012.
• On 26 May, complaints had been received in respect of music being played in the ground floor being audible outside the premises.
• It was felt that such events should not take place until the applicant had worked with the Council to protect local residents from noise nuisance.

In response to questions raised by the Committee, Mr Pearce made the following points:

• The measures suggested to address the issues raised would be sound-proofing, and addressing the issue of noise escape from the doors opening and closing, ideally by means of a lobby door.
• It was confirmed that it would be difficult to make the necessary changes in advance of the proposed date for this TEN.
• Without the issues being resolved, concern was expressed regarding the proposed time of 000 to 0400 as this was a particularly noise-sensitive time and, were the music at a similar level to previously, there would be an expectation of complaints.

Peter Mudahy addressed the Committee on behalf of the applicant, Mr Cornelius, and made the following points:

• The event had been running for three years, once a month, but in recent months there had been negative information circulated to residents about the event, encouraging people to make complaints.
• This was the applicant’s sole source of income, and was an event catering to an older, respectable clientele, who respected the residential nature of the area. 20 employees relied on income from the monthly events.
• This was a well-managed, ticket-only event, which the community looked forward to each month.
• It was felt that the complaints being made were only as a result of the letters being circulated against the event; whereas the event had been running for three years without problems.
• It was acknowledged that improvements could be made to the fabric of the venue, and discussions were taking place with the premises owner regarding this, but there were no issues in respect of the way the event itself was managed.

In response to questions from the Committee, the applicants advised that they did turn the music down when requested in order to manage noise, and were looking into the possibility of a device to minimise the escape of noise.

Ms Barrett advised that Committee that, were they to grant the application, they had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

To consider any new items of urgent business admitted under item 2 above.

There were no items of urgent business.

The meeting closed at 23:15hrs.