Agenda and minutes

To agree the procedure rules for remote meetings.

RESOLVED –

THAT the guidance be agreed.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Matthew Kirk and Nina de Ayala Parker. Councillor Patricia Callaghan was substituting.

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 twelve months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts are archived and can be made available upon request.

If you have asked to address the meeting, you are deemed to be consenting to having your contributions recorded and broadcast, including video when switched on, and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.’

Any other announcements

Broadcast of the Meeting

The Chair made the following announcement: “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 six months after the meeting.

After that time, webcasts are archived and can be made available upon request. If you have asked to address the meeting, you are deemed to be consenting to having your contributions recorded and broadcast, including video when switched on, and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.”

Supplementary Agenda

A supplementary agenda was published on 17 April 2024 which included late papers relating to the Wendy’s application (item 7) submitted by the Applicant.

There was no urgent business.

To approve the Part I and Part II minutes of the meetings held on:

a)    21 November 2023

b)    30 November 2023.

RESOLVED –

THAT the Part I and Part II minutes of the meetings held on 21 November 2023 and 30 November 2023 be approved and signed as a correct record.

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.

Paru Bhudia, Licensing Officer, summarised the report.

The Panel agreed to admit the late papers included within the supplementary agenda.

Since the main agenda publication, the following additional conditions proposed by the Police had been agreed by the Applicant:

1. No persons carrying visibly open or sealed alcohol vessels shall be admitted to the premises at any time that the premises are open for licensable activities.
2. Police must be called to incidents of violence and/or disorder.

PC Rachel Aldis, Police responsible authority, spoke to their representation. The following concerns were raised: the premises was situated within a Cumulative Impact Area (CIA) and this premises did not demonstrate any exception to Camden’s Licensing Policy’s rebuttable presumption to refuse a new application, therefore granting this new licence would undermine the promotion of the licencing objectives; regardless of the proposed licence being limited to dry-sales, the premises could become a flashpoint for incidences involving people leaving other late night venues and staying in the area; and that despite the Applicant claiming that 20 TENs had been held without incidents, during this period there were no conditions requiring the premises to report incidents to the Police.

In response to questions, PC Rachel Aldis confirmed there had been no incidents of crime reported to the Police in relation to the premises during the period Wendy’s had been operating until 02:00hrs firstly without a licence and then the granted TENS which followed.

Esther Jones, Licensing Authority responsible authority, spoke to their representation. Esther Jones explained their objection was due to the premises being located in the CIA and the application should be refused on that basis.

Paul Newton, Wendy’s Regional Operations Manager, accompanied by

Michael Clarke, Wendy’s Managing Director U.K. & Europe, spoke to their application. The following points were made:

·       It relation to the Licensing Authority’s representation, it was confirmed the Applicant had already accepted the proposed conditions relating to the women’s safety principles and retaining CCTV for 31 days. The premises already had three refuse areas across the floors which were regularly changed.

·       As stated in proposed conditions 15-17, there would be security on the ground floor entrance and the first floor who would be present longer than the licensable activities took place. There were currently 13 security cameras in the interior of the premises, and Applicant was happy to install more to the exterior of the building if requested.

·       It was confirmed that it was a mistake of the premises during the period this Wendy’s site was operating without a licence and trading until 02:00hrs. During that period of nearly 12 months, there had been no incidents (including antisocial behaviour) recorded internally or to the Police.

·       As a business, Wendy’s wanted to be a part of the community and be an offering of late night refreshments. The premises wanted to prevent litter and did not want drunk  ...  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.

Paru Bhudia, Licensing Officer, summarised the report.

Frank Fender, legal representative to the Applicant, stated that the proposed operating hours had been reduced from 04:00hrs to 02:00hrs on Friday and Saturday nights. Between 01:00-02:00hrs on Friday and Saturday nights the operation would be limited to delivery only.

Esther Jones, Licensing Authority responsible authority, spoke to their representation. Esther Jones stated that their objection was due to the premises being located in the CIA. The risks of the premises operating late-night hours in the CIA in a residential zone was that people would gather in the area and disturb local residents through noise pollution, littering, and the increased likelihood of antisocial behaviour occurring.

In response to questions, it was confirmed that the premises already had an existing premises licence and there had been no previous reports of issues at the premises.

Kate Gemmell spoke to the three interested party objecting representations: herself as TRACT, on behalf of Patricia Thomas as a local resident, and on behalf of Brenda Gardiner as the Castlehaven Community Association. The following concerns were raised: the premises was situated in a CIA and the Applicant had not made a case demonstrating this application was an exemption to Camden’s Licensing Policy, therefore any extension of the current terminal hours would add to the cumulative impact of licenced venue’s in the area and would negatively impact the licensing objectives; once customers were outside of the venue and finished being served, the venue had no means of controlling the their behaviour; takeaway delivery operatives would disturb local residents late at night and there were no proposed conditions which addressed mitigation of this issue.

In response to questions, Kate Gemmel confirmed that she was not aware of the premises causing any disturbance to residents on the current licence, however noted that any new extended terminal hours would change the type of operation into a late-night venue which created different problems.

Frank Fender, accompanied by the Applicants Mr. Moshe Forte and Mrs. Agnieszka Forte, spoke to their application. The following points were made:

·       The difference between the existing licence and the application was an extension of hours for alcohol sales, including the introduction of off-sales, and the extension of hours for late-night refreshments.

·       A meeting took place between with the Police which resulted in the withdrawal of their representation where it was agreed the terminal hours would be reduced.

·       All four representations were made due to the CIA policy and they made no reference to the existing operation causing any issues for local people or the licensing objectives being undermined. There had been no complaints raised about the premises. In response to the resident concerns about the potential noise created by delivery operatives, the Applicant was happy to add new conditions that no takeaway deliveries should be made for the restaurant using motorised vehicles  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

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.

Paru Bhudia, Licensing Officer, summarised the report. Since the publication of the main agenda five additional conditions had been added and the Licensing Authority had withdrawn their representation.

Alex Tomlinson and Felix Faulkner, legal representatives for the Applicant, accompanied by Marc Sherman, Five Guys Operational Team - Head of Property, spoke to their application. The following points were made:

·       The hours applied for were close to framework hours and the premises was not in a CIA. The application was proportionate the style of operation.

·       Additional conditions had been agreed with the Licensing Authority leading them to withdraw their objection. There had been no objections from any other responsible authorities.

·       Five Guys already had another site in Camden which operated later hours than being applied for in this application and that site had not ever had issues with authorities or enforcement. Five Guys did not have any issues on their London sites and they were known for being good neighbours.

·       Five Guys was an experienced operator in the UK for over 10 years and had 164 sites in the UK. Five Guys prided themselves on being a good employer and neighbour to local residents. Five Guys would be happy to have continued dialogue with local residents.

·       Alcohol sales in Five Guys operations were minimal and were on average only 2% of sales. Five Guys did not operate as a drinking establishment and the only offer was small bottle beers.

·       The premises was located under a new build block which housed 160 residential units. There were existing agreements in place with the developer to limit delivery hours a to the premises therefore the likelihood of causing a nuisance to residents was limited. All stores had a dedicated contact number.

In response to questions, the following points were clarified:

·       The Police and Applicant had agreed conditions which were included in the application and the Police did not make a representation.

·       The women’s safety principles conditions were not common in Five Guys venues and had not been requested by the Police, however the Applicant would be happy to adopt them.

·       The majority of sales were generated from dining customers at 75%. There was a small number of customer collections. The takeaway deliveries that were collected from third party operatives were managed quickly by staff as to not affect the dine-in customer’s experience. As a general point, delivery operatives tended to congregate in areas between a number of restaurants, and therefore even if a group was close to the premises they may not be waiting for Five Guys specifically. There were clear policies for operatives from third parties that they should be positioned in a sensible location and away from main roads.

In their closing remarks, Alex Tomlinson stated Five Guys wanted to reassure residents that loading from deliveries would have minimal impact due to the existing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

There was no urgent business.