Agenda item

To consider an application to allow Provision of Regulated Entertainment at the event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please note that, it being a special meeting of the Committee, under the Council’s Constitution, Part 4, Section B, paragraph 17, no other business shall be considered.

The Committee received the application for a new Premises Licence by Ms Arzu Pesmen of the Kurdish Community Centre in respect of Newroz 2011 on the 27^th March 2011, Finsbury Park, London, N4 under the Licensing Act. 

 

The Licensing Officer introduced the application and the additional bundle of paperwork submitted by the Applicant.

 

The Licensing Officer expressed concern that 5000 tickets had been produced for the event and the license would only allow for 4999 people to be present. In response the Applicant confirmed that only 4999 tickets were valid and all staff and stall-holders would each be required to be in possession of a ticket.  In response to a question from Councillor Brabazon about organisers could ensure the event did not exceed the allocated figures for attendance the Applicant confirmed that SIA Security staff at the entrance to the event would use clickers to count people entering and leaving.  These numbers would be regularly reported to the event management.  Ticket stubs would also be kept and counted as an additional method of recording numbers and representatives from the responsible authorities would also be at the event to monitor.

 

The Committee noted the statement of the Licensing Officer including that the Applicant had amended the requested opening hours to 12:00 to 19:00 hours but there were still concerns from the responsible authorities regarding management of the event that had not been addressed particularly around crowd control and political memorabilia being displayed.

 

In response to questions to the Licensing Officer it was noted that the stewards at the event were volunteers and that those staffing the lost children area would be checked by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and those CRB checks would be shown to the Licensing Authority.

 

The Committee agreed to vary the order of proceedings to allow the Applicant and her representative, Mr Yashar Ismailoglu, to explain how the additional documentation addressed the representations previously made by the responsible authorities, including:

·                    Daylight would end at 19:25 hrs and the event would cease at 19:00 therefore there was no longer a need for additional lighting on the site.

·                    Details of barriers to be used for crowd control were included in the bundle.

·                    Bonfires and fireworks would not be permitted.

·                    People entering the event would be searched; staff will be specially trained for this.

·                    Any banned items would be confiscated for the duration of the event.

·                    Attendees wearing any political badges on their clothes or displaying political flags would be asked to remove the items and if they did not cooperate they would be asked to leave the event.

·                    The event Health and Safety Policy, specific duties for staff and an updated evacuation plan were included in the additional documents.

·                    Attendees were discouraged from bringing their cars to the event.

 

In response to questions the Applicant and her representative informed the Committee that of the 100 staff to be employed on the day 20 would be SIA registered professional security staff, 15 would receive specific SIA training and the remaining 65 had experience of stewarding similar events and would receive one day of training including crowd control and fire safety.  Security staff, stewards and management would wear high visibility clothing during the event.  Two-way radios would be in use for constant communication between staff and management.

 

Committee members expressed concern for public safety and recognised the sensitive nature of asking people to not display banned political symbols but agreed that staff had to be briefed on this matter. The Committee considered the use of signs requesting attendees not to display such items but concurred with the Applicant that this could potentially provoke the issue.  It was agreed that as much pre-publicising should be conducted to ensure that members of the community were aware that political statements would not be tolerated at the event.

 

The Committee noted the statement of the Police representative, Sergeant Simon Willmott, including:

·                    That this was seen as a community event which would not be policed and so it was vital that the organisers understood their responsibilities and that evidence of staff training was provided to the Police.

·                    The Police would supply the Applicant with examples of banned PKK signs which should be made available to staff on the day and there should be some pre-publicity so that the community were aware that these items would be banned at the event.

·                    The Police should be provided with details of the acts performing at the event in order to verify their backgrounds.

·                    More information should be provided about the itinery such as the messages and closing speeches.

·                    Vehicles entering the park should be controlled.  In response the Applicant informed the Committee that security staff at the entrance to the park would be in radio communication with staff at the car-park to ensure no more vehicles were permitted than were allowed.  The Applicant confirmed that no vehicles except one refrigerated van would remain on site during the event.  The Licensing Officer confirmed that this was acceptable as long as the vehicle was not moved during the event.

·                    In response to Cllr Scott’s question it was noted that the football match at the Emirates Stadium would not impact on the event or people travelling to it.

·                    Sergeant Willmott recognised the Applicant and Mr Ismailoglu as regular organisers of this event and was satisfied that some of his concerns had been diluted although he emphasised that safety teams at the event needed to be well organised.

 

The Committee noted the statement of the Fire Authority representative, Mr Kevin Close, including:

·                    That most of his concerns had been addressed by the additional documentation, namely that there would be no fireworks or bonfires at the event.  The Applicant stated that any mention of fireworks in the documents would be removed.

·                    In response to Mr Close querying the use of protective guards on heaters the Applicant explained that there would be no use of heaters at the event, except an urn to heat water.

·                    In response to Mr Close’s concern about escape lighting the Applicant explained that there was permanent escape lighting on site and, contrary to last year, all exits would be unlocked and manned for the duration of the event.

·                    The Applicant informed the Committee that Centre Stage, the production organisers, would provide an auxiliary generator as back-up in the event of a power-failure.

·                    In response to questions from Cllr Strang, Mr Close and Mr Nicolaou (Noise Enforcement Response Team) confirmed that half an hour was sufficient time for evacuation of the site after the event and emergency evacuation could be concluded in 8 minutes.

·                    Cllr Brabazon asked if the Fire Authority was satisfied that there would be safe use of bar-b-qs at the event and Mr Close stated that the organisers had confirmed that bar-b-q’s would be behind barriers at a safe distance from crowds.

 

The Committee noted the statement of the Environmental Health (Noise) representative, Mr George Nicolaou, and the Applicant’s response to the concerns raised including:

·                    Confirmation that the closing speech would take place before 19:00 hours.

·                    The messages would be from Kurdish representatives of Syria and Iraq.

·                    Stage certificates would be available on the day from the production manager.

·                    Patrols in surrounding streets would take place to ensure noise levels did not cause public nuisance.

·                    F9 and F10 (on page 15 of the additional bundle), relating to towers, masts and temporary stands, in the risk assessment document would be amended to state that such items would be in use.

·                    Electric board equipment and all stage equipment would be fitted with Residual    Current Device (RCD) circuit breakers.

 

The Committee noted that the Building Control representative had withdrawn their representation as conditions regarding stage barriers had been met.

 

The Applicant assured the Committee that organisers would do their utmost to prevent public disorder and would immediately address any concerns as they arise.

 

The Committee retired for deliberations at 21:05 hrs.

 

RESOLVED

 

 

The Committee carefully considered the application and decided to grant the licence subject to a number of conditions.  In coming to the decision the Committee took into account the Borough’s Statement of Licensing Policy, the Section 182 Statutory Guidance and all the representations made by the responsible authorities.

 

The following conditions are imposed in order to promote the licensing objectives:

 

1.      The conditions stated within the event management plan are imposed as amended orally by agreement during the hearing, unless they contradict the following conditions, which will take precedence:

 

2.      Opening Hours:

Sunday 27^th March 2011:                    12:00 to 19:00 hours

 

3.      Provision of Regulated Entertainment: Plays

Sunday 27^th March 2011:                    14:20 to 19:00 hours

 

4.      Live Music:

Sunday 27^th March 2011:                    13:00 to 19:00 hours

 

5.      Recorded Music:

Sunday 27^th March 2011:                    12:00 to 19:00 hours

 

6.      Performance of Dance:

Sunday 27^th March 2011:                    15:20 to 19:00 hours

 

7.      All the conditions in the operating schedule are imposed.

 

8.      No bonfires or fireworks will be permitted.

 

9.      An auxiliary generator must be installed to enable emergency announcements to be made.

 

10.    The management will ensure that noise levels are regularly monitored in the surrounding residential streets, which will be listed and provided by the Enforcement Response Team.

 

11.    No tickets to the event will be sold on site.

 

12.    All visitors will be clicked in and clicked out and the numbers regularly monitored by the management.

 

13.    Barrier specifications as required by the responsible authorities must be met.

 

14.    At least 20 SIA-badged staff will be present displaying appropriate badges.

 

15.    All security staff including stewards will be wearing high visibility clothing.

 

16.    Organisers and security staff will meet prior to the opening of the event to ensure that plans for all potential issues are in place.

 

17.    All stewards will be trained and given refresher training and training programmes will be provided to the Police.  Such training will include details of banned symbols and reporting methods of such displays.  Stewards must inform management and or SIA staff who will request such displays be withdrawn.

 

18.    The training and experience of the off-duty Police Officer acting as a Team leader is to be provided to the Police.

 

19.    Signage with standard wording from the Licensing Authority disallowing various objects will be displayed at the entrance.  Subtle signage at the discretion of the management disallowing banned symbols should be displayed.

 

20.    As an informative the Committee recognised the sensitivities surrounding banned political insignia and encouraged the organisers to ensure appropriate pre-publicity in order to allay the responsible authorities’ concerns in this regard.

 

21.    The organisers are to ensure that all vehicles are off the site by 11.30 hours before the event begins.

 

 

 

 

The meeting ended at 22:25 hrs.