Agenda item

Daliah Barrett, Licensing Officer, introduced the application for a new premises licence at Kajal News, 8 Commerce Road, N22 8ED.  The application was for the sale of alcohol between 0800-2300hrs Monday-Sunday.  The Police had made a representation and requested that conditions be added to the licence, and the Applicant had accepted these conditions.  Further representations had been made by Interested Parties, mainly referring to issues of crime and disorder in the vicinity. 

Mr Erol Izzet, Legal Representative for an objector to the application, outlined the objection.  He requested that the Committee reject the application as there were existing issues of crime and disorder in the local area, and this would be exacerbated by an additional licensed premises on the same parade.  He considered that there was nothing in the application which could satisfy the Committee that the licensing objectives would be met.

Ms Debra Silvester, Applicant Representative, presented the application for a premises licence.  A number of conditions had been put forward by the Applicant, and he had also agreed to the conditions put forward by the Police.  She referred to the objection made by Mr Izzet which made reference to two neighbouring shops selling alcohol as against Council Policy, and informed the Committee that this was not something for the Committee to consider as it related to a Council Lease and not the Licensing Policy.

Ms Silvester informed the Committee that the Applicant was aware of the issues in the area as he had owned the premises for six years.  The Applicant had many years of experience of running licensed premises, and was confident that he would be able to uphold the licensing objectives.

During discussion of the application it was confirmed that the number of licensed premises in the same area was not in the statement of licensing policy, and that the Applicant had dealt with Property Services to amend the terms of his lease.

In summing up, Mr Izzett reiterated his request to the Committee to not grant the licence.  Ms Silvester had nothing to add.

The Committee adjourned to consider the application, and the Chair informed all parties present that the decision would be confirmed in writing following the hearing.

RESOLVED

The Committee carefully considered the application, the representations by the Police and interested parties, the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy and the guidance under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003.

The Committee resolved to grant the licence as follows:

Opening Hours

Monday to  Friday                            0530 to 2300 hours

Saturday to Sunday                                    0630 to 2300 hours

Monday to Sunday                          1200 to 2300 hours

Supply of Alcohol

Monday to Sunday                          0800 to 2300

For consumption OFF the premises

The Committee granted the license  subject to the following conditions:

1.         The conditions set out in the operating schedule (save where they were superseded by other conditions).

2.         The conditions proposed by the Police and agreed by the applicant as follows:

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A digital CCTV system to be installed in the premises.  Cameras must be sited to observe the entrance doors from both inside and outside.  Cameras on the entrances must capture full frame shots of the heads and shoulders of all people entering the premises i.e. capable of identification.  Cameras must be sited to cover all areas to which the public have access including any outside smoking areas.  Provide a linked record of the date, time of any images.  Provide good quality images – colour during opening times.  Have a monitor to review images and recorded quality.  Be regularly maintained to ensure continuous quality of image capture and retention.  Member of staff trained in operating CCTV at venue during times open to the public.  Digital images must be kept for 31 days.  The equipment must have a suitable export method, e.g. CD/DVD writer so that Police can make an evidential copy of the data they require.  Copies must be available within a reasonable time to Police on request.

An incident log shall be kept at the premises and made available on request to the Police, which will record the following:

a)  All crimes reported to the venue

b)  All ejections of patrons

c)  Any complaints received

d)  Any incidents of disorder

e)  Seizures of drugs or offensive weapons

f)   Any faults in the CCTV system or searching equipment or scanning equipment

g)  Any refusal of the sale of alcohol

h)  Any visit by a relevant authority or emergency service

3.         A condition that the licence holder clears all rubbish from outside the premises every evening.

In coming to its decision the committee carefully considered the objectors’ concerns regarding  youths hanging around the area and the use of drugs and alcohol.  The committee noted that the Police had confirmed that there are gangs hanging around the locality generally drinking cough mixture and that they were monitoring the situation.

There was no indication from the Police that these issues were related to the sale of alcohol and no specific incidents of street drinking or disorder arising from consumption of alcohol were presented to the committee.  The hours proposed were considered reasonable and on all of the evidence the committee was satisfied that there were not such serious problems of street drinking of alcohol or disorder that granting the license for the sale of alcohol would undermine the licensing objectives of the prevention of public nuisance and/or the prevention of crime and disorder.

Furthermore, the conditions being imposed were sufficiently robust to address these issues.  The license holder had over 10 years experience and had demonstrated to the committee that he understood his responsibilities as license holder.

The Committee were therefore satisfied that granting the license would not undermine any of the licensing objectives and granted the license subject to the conditions it considered appropriate and proportionate to promote the licensing objectives.