Agenda item

To consider an application for a variation of premises licence.

Daliah Barrett, Licensing Officer, introduced the report at set out.

Robert Sutherland, Applicant Representative, advised that the application had been amended following discussions with the Police and local residents for Late Night Refreshment Monday-Wednesday 23.00-02.00 and Thursday-Sunday 23.00-02.30.  He requested that if the Committee were not minded to grant the application with the new hours then they should refuse the application.

Ian Sygrave, spoke on behalf of the Ladder Community Safety Partnership.  He informed the Committee that the LCSP would compromise and accept a closing time of 02.00 for the whole week in line with other premises on the same stretch of Green Lanes.  He referred to the issues previously experienced on Green Lanes and explained that a reduction in closing times had helped to reduced crime and anti-social behaviour.  He felt that if this premises was allowed to open past 02.00, then this would set a precedent for other premises and there would be an increase in premises opening later and the area would revert back to a night time economy.

Noshaba Shah, Licensing, presented the representation on behalf of the Licensing Authority.  She was in agreement with the comments made by Mr Sygrave and agreed that if the Committee were to agree to an extension in hours, then 02.00 would be a suitable compromise.

Robert Sutherland, Applicant Representative, presented the application for a variation to the premises licence.  He advised that the premises name would be changes to ‘Haringey Corbasi’ and the applicant would be focusing on providing a menu of soups for late night refreshment.  The sale of alcohol had been removed from the premises licence, therefore the applicant wished to open later to make up for the lack of sales that would have come from alcohol.  The premises would not be a late night venue and it was difficult to see how opening until 02.30 would cause issues in the area.

Mr Sutherland responded to questions from the Committee:

-               The applicant had worked at the premises for a number of years.

-               The late night hours would attract customers who worked late shifts or through the night and would be a place for them to buy food.

-               Removing alcohol from the licence would reduce the risk of people being drawn to the area in the early hours of the morning to continue drinking.

All parties summed up and the Committee retired to consider their decision.

RESOLVED

The Licensing Sub Committee (LSC) carefully considered an application to vary the existing premises licence at Courtyard Jazz Bar & Restaurant, 7 Salisbury Promenade, Green Lanes, London N8.  In considering the application, the Committee took account of the London Borough of Haringey’s Statement of Licensing Policy, the Licensing Act 2003, the Licensing Act 2003 section 182 Guidance, the report pack and the applicants and objectors written and oral representations.

Having considered the application and heard from all the parties, the Committee decided as follows:

The LSC resolved to accede to the Applicant’s request to vary the licence by removing alcohol sales from the licence but to refuse to grant the application as requested.  The LSC instead resolved to increase the hours during which licensable activity could take place as follows and to add the following conditions to the conditions that appear at Annex 2 of the existing licence:

Late night Refreshment

Monday to Sunday 2300 to 0200 hours

Opening hours

Monday to Sunday 0600 to 0200 hours

All the conditions set out at paragraphs (1) and (2) of the Police Representation at pages 36 and 37 of the agenda.

Reasons

The Committee gave serious consideration to the matters raised by the applicants, the objectors, and the responsible authorities.

The committee was satisfied that the locality was an area where the focus was on promoting the evening rather than the late-night economy.  The committee considered that the hours requested by the applicants were excessive when set against the hours of most premises in the area and felt that there was a real risk that very late opening would result in reduced ability to uphold the licencing objectives.

The committee accepted that the applicant wanted to offer a different type of business serving traditional foods, particularly healthy soups to families and shift workers and was encouraged by the applicant’s willingness to reduce the hours applied for but felt that given the risks associated with late operating in the area, 2am closing across the week represented a reasonable compromise for all concerned, and would promote the licensing objectives.

The committee noted that the planning authority had given an indication about the opening hours. The committee only consider matters that fall within their responsibility, which is for licencing matters, but was nonetheless aware that operating hours that exceeded the hours permitted by the planning permission were being sought by the applicants.  The committee wished to encourage the applicant to address this matter with the planning authority without delay.  

Appeal Rights

This decision is open to appeal to the Magistrates Court within the period of 21 days beginning on the day upon which the appellant is notified of the decision. This decision does not take effect until the end of the appeal period or, if an appeal has been lodged, until the appeal is dispensed with.