Agenda and minutes

To agree the procedure rules for remote meetings.

RESOLVED –

THAT the guidance be agreed.

Apologies had been received from Councillor Patricia Callaghan and Councillor McNamara was in attendance as a substitute.

There were no declarations.

Broadcast of the meeting

The Chair to announce the following: “In addition to the rights by law that the public and press have to record this meeting, I would like to remind everyone that this meeting is being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and can be viewed on our website for at least six months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts are archived and can be made available on upon request.

If you have asked to address the meeting, you are deemed to be consenting to being filmed and to the use of those images and sound recordings for webcasting and/or training purposes. If you are addressing the Committee your contribution will be recorded and broadcast.”

Webcasting

The Chair announced that the meeting was being broadcast live to the internet and would be capable of repeated viewing and copies of the recording could be made available to those that requested them. Those participating in the meeting were deemed to be consenting to being filmed.

Supplementary Agenda

A supplementary agenda had been published which included a late paper submitted by the Police in relation to the Ecco application (item 7).

Withdrawn Application

The Swains 15 Highgate Road application (Item 9) had been withdrawn and would therefore not be considered by Panel A.

There was no urgent business.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 7^th September 2023.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 7 September 2023 be approved and signed as a correct record.

Report of the Executive Director Supporting Communities

This is an application to vary a premises licence under Section 34 of the Licensing Act 2003.

Consideration was given to a report of the Executive Director Supporting Communities detailing an application to vary a premises licensing under Section 34 of the Licensing Act 2003.

The Licensing Officer summarised the report.

The Panel agreed to accept the late paper submitted by the Police, a letter from the Police to the Applicant, which was published in the supplementary agenda.

Graham Hopkins, Agent for the Applicant, set out the following amendments to the application:

-       No customer collection after 23:00.

-       To sign-up to the Ask for Angela scheme.

PC Joel Francis, Police responsible authority, summarised their case and stated the Police position had changed since the original representation included within the main agenda (pages 81-83). The new position was advising to reject the application to vary the licence in its entirety, outlined in the supplementary agenda submission. The Police written submission and verbal summary outlined the Police visit to the premises on Sunday 8 October, which revealed the venue was open to the public after their licensed trading hours, the premises did not have their premises licence visible, and the CCTV was not working. There were similar circumstances of proven out of hours trading in June 2022 following complaints, when the Applicant previously applied for a variation of the premises licence and the Police found the venue to be breaching licence conditions and instructed the venue to improve the management and reduce harm the neighbourhood. It was clear the venue was unable to operate without breaching their licence and it could not be claimed they were unaware of their requirements. In the night-time Camden economy, it was vital for the Police to be able to trust operators to manage their venues responsibly and understand their own licence. The venue was in a Cumulative Impact Area (CIA) which meant that more customers were at risk of being victims or perpetrators crime. The application for extending hours did not promote the crime and disorder and public nuisance licensing objectives because the venue was not meeting their current obligations, particularly when considering they were located within a CIA.

In response to questions, the Police clarified and outlined the following points:

-       The venue had been proved to breach their late-night refreshments licence, and not their alcohol licence, in the transactions observed by the Police. There may have been other breaches on other occasions which were not known to responsible authorities.

-       There were three breaches in total the Police were aware of, two in 2022 and one in 2023. The Police were also aware of two occasions in relation to this venue when breaches were reported to the Licensing Authority; generally, the Police were not notified of all reports to the Licensing Authority.

David Kaner, objecting interested party representing the Covent Garden Community Association (CGCA), summarised their representation included within the main agenda (pages 85-91). In their summary, concerns were raised over; the venue being within a CIA which had a presumption to refuse any application unless the Applicant could make  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Report of the Executive Director Supporting Communities.

This is an application for a new premises licence under section 17 of the Licensing Act 2003.

Consideration was given to a report of the Executive Director Supporting Communities detailing an application for a new premises licence under Section 17 of the Licensing Act 2003.

The Licensing Officer summarised the report. Since the publication of the agenda, it was stated that proposed condition 4 from the Police had been accepted by the Applicant on 11 October. 2023 Therefore, now all of the Police and the Licensing Authority proposed conditions had been accepted by the Applicant. The hours had not been accepted by the Applicant.

PC Joel Francis, Police responsible authority, summarised their representation included within the main agenda (pages 133-136). In their summary, it was confirmed that the Applicant would not agree for the application to be within framework hours, which the Police believed to be required if the crime and disorder licensing objective be maintained. Due to their being a new operator of the venue when considering the venue’s issues in the past, the Police had not objected the application in its entirety. The venue was located in a more residential area of Kentish Town and was not within the CIA. So far in 2023 there had been 20 reported crimes on Kentish Town Road occurring between midnight and 04:00am, 13 of those were violent, and four of those involved customers and staff of off-licences. The Police believed there was an oversaturation of late-night venues in the area, which increased the likelihood of disputes between intoxicated people on the streets. The Applicant had applied for Temporary Event Notices (TENs) in-line with the hours applied for in this application, which had run smoothly and begun to demonstrate responsible operation.

Ester Jones, Licensing Authority responsible authority, summarised their representation included within the main agenda (pages 137-139). In their summary, it was stated the venue was located in a more residential area. The Licensing Authority asked for framework hours, alongside the Police, to maintain the crime and disorder and public nuisance licensing objectives.

Kate Gimmel, objecting interest party representing Tenants and Residents Associations Camden Town (TRACT), summarised their representation included within the main agenda (pages 140-141). In their summary, concerns were raised over the venue being situated in a more residential area. Late night hours of the premises would add to noise disturbance from intoxicated people arriving at the area, drivers and people on phone calls outside of the shop. There would also be an increased risk of anti-social behaviour. Local residents would suffer if alcohol were to be sold outside of framework hours and would encourage the late-night activities from Camden Town entering the area.

Graham Hopkins, Agent, accompanied by Mr Umit, the Applicant, summarised the application. The following points were made:

-       The venue was not located in the CIA, therefore there was not a presumption to refuse the application.

-       Mr Umit had agreed a comprehensive list of conditions from the Police and Licensing Authority, listed in the agenda.

-       There was only one interested party in objection, TRACT, and there were no  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Report of the Executive Director Supporting Communities.

This is an application for a shadow premises licence under section 16 of the Licensing Act 2003.

This application had been withdrawn and therefore was not considered by Panel A.

There was no urgent business.