Agenda and draft minutes

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The Chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual, or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

Noted.

None.

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 9 below).

There was no such business.

None.

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

The Chair outlined the procedure as set out in the agenda pack.

To consider an application by Radioactive Clothing for a new Premises Licence.

Daliah Barrett, Licensing Officer, introduced the application for a premises licence made by Radioactive Clothing for the bandstand area of Finsbury Park.  The application sought the ability to hold up to four events per calendar year over a ten year period.  It was noted that the licence would not be able to be used if the holders were unable to secure a booking to hire the park.  The application was outlined at appendix one of the agenda pack.  The applicants had initially submitted an application for a one-off event, but this had been withdrawn and this application subsequently submitted.

Representations had been made by Enforcement Response in reference to the amended noise monitoring locations for 2016, and the requirement to not allow petrol generators on site.  These conditions were accepted by the applicant.

Representations had been made by 11 members of the public, and these were set out in pages 53-73 of the agenda pack.

Ms Barrett referred the Committee to pages 22 and 23 of the agenda pack, which showed plans of the areas of the park to be used during events.

In response to Councillor Beacham, Ms Barrett clarified that the Parks department controlled the policy on the number of events which could take place in parks – it was not under the control of the Licensing Committee or team.

Gary Grant, Representative for Tom Palin, Chair of the Friends of Finsbury Park (FoFP), outlined the representation against the application.  The representation made by FoFP was not intended to block any / all concerts in Finsbury Park, but outlined the intention to work with the Council and Applicants to find a fair balance.  It was recognised that the current financial climate was challenging for Local Authorities, and that parks needed to be maintained and paid for; and Mr Grant referred the Committee to the comments made by the Chair of the Council’s Overview & Scrutiny Committee at the October 2015 review of Finsbury Park in that the Committee recognised the importance of financial income, but that he did not think that ‘money trumps everything’.

It was accepted on all sides that concerts would cause disturbance and nuisance to residents, but the Committee had the power to balance the commercial interests with the wellbeing of residents.

FoFP strived to protect a park which was there to enrich the quality of life for local residents, many of whom did not have access to gardens.  The impact of frequent events in the park had a detrimental effect on both the park and its’ users.  Events in the park meant large areas became off limits to park users, not just for the days when events took place, but for the time it took to set up and take down events.  The event run by Radioactive Clothing was a two day event, with drum and bass music on day one, and ‘rave’ music on day two – this would mean a repetitive bass beat throughout the event, which was of extreme disturbance  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62.

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for consideration of item 8 as it contains exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985); para 3; namely information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

There were no items of restricted business.

To consider an application by Radioactive Clothing for a new Premises Licence.

There were no items of restricted business.

There were no such items.