Agenda item

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 for a variation to a premises licence under section 34 of the Licensing Act 2003.

 

The Licensing Officer took the Panel through the report and stated that three relevant representations had been received from local residents, 2 opposing and 1 from a community group in support of the application.

 

The Licensing Officer informed the panel that the application to vary sought to update the plan of the premises in line with the plans attached to the application which could be found on the Supplementary Agenda 2 and to remove conditions 16,17 and 19 on the premises licence to allow the premises to operate as a traditional public house and to correct the wording of condition 22. The hours policy was engaged by the application in relation to the proposed end times for licensable activities, and the premises supplying hot food and drink between 11pm and 5am. The licensing objectives engaged by the application were the prevention of public nuisance and the premises was not situated within the cumulative impact policy area.

 

The applicant’s legal representative, Marcus Lavell, confirmed that the application for a variation had been amended to a starting time of 11am daily.

 

There were no questions to the applicant on the amendment.

 

John Slater outlined their objections to the application, as in their written submission.

 

Dan Outram representing Swains Lane Retail Forum, outlined their reasons for supporting the application, as in their written submission.

 

The interested parties answered questions as follows:

 

In clarification the objectors to the application felt that alcohol should not be sold at the premises before 10am.

 

The applicant’s representative, Mr Marcus Lavelloutlined their application and responded to questions providing the following information:

 

• It was not expected that there would be a high demand from people wanting to have a drink of alcohol at 8am in the morning, however in the event of a very limited number of people wanting to have a quick drink in the morning this would have no impact on school children walking past.
• The application to vary and remove three conditions was because the premises had been used as a restaurant which had failed. The freeholder wanted to invest in a sustainable business that met local demand and was in the interest of customers.
• The intention was to have a traditional muddy boots pub somewhere where local residents could have a drink. The intention was to have gentle background music to enhance the atmosphere in the premises rather than have live based performances.
• The applicant operated 7 other pubs in and around northeast London, these were family friendly Sunday roast lead pubs, which were well run pubs without any issues. The pubs also had policies similar to Camden’s ‘Ask Angela’ policy as well as efficient and effective dispersal policies.
• The applicant was an experienced operator, was well aware of the licensing objectives with well trained staff to manage the premises and promote the licensing objectives. the d been made because the current condition was deemed by the applicant to be overly restrictive.
• Condition 28 provides for ensuring supervision of the outside smoking area. There was ample room in the immediate vicinity outside the premises to deal with the limited number of smokers, the condition also required that they be managed to avoid nuisance as well as obstruction of the highway.
• The rules around smoking under the Health Act identified that effectively there can be no smoking in any work environment or commercial property.
• The application had been considered by all the responsible authorities who had not identified any issues with the application.

 

The interested parties made closing remarks.

 

The applicant’s representative made closing remarks.

 

Decision and reasons

 

Panel Members confirmed that they had been able to follow and understand the submissions and discussion in relation to this application.

 

The Panel considered the comments from the interested parties and the information provided by the applicant’s representative.

 

In their deliberations, the Panel members stated that they were minded to approve the variation application which they felt was quite reasonable and potentially good from a business perspective to promote a sustainable business.

 

The Panel noted that the closing hours for the business were the same as they had been for the previous occupants of the premises so there did not appear to be any cause for concern, none of the responsible authorities had objected, neither were there any concerns about the early start for alcohol sales as there was not likely to be huge demand for this early in the morning.   The training of staff appeared to be very strong and the applicant appeared to be an experienced operator with considerable experience of running similar operations with these training and dispersal policies elsewhere in London.

 

Members felt that there was an issue with smoking in the terraced area particularly with residential properties directly above, so wanted a condition added which prohibited smoking in the outside terraced area.

 

The Panel felt that with the added no smoking condition and all the other measures in place, the premises should run smoothly approving the variation application.

 

Therefore, it was

 

RESOLVED –

 

THAT the application for a variation to the premises licence be granted.

 

The premises are licensed for:

 

a)    Supply of Alcohol (On Premises)

08:00 to 23:30 Monday to Thursday

08:00 to 00:30 Friday and Saturday  

08:00 to 23:30 Sunday

 

b)    Supply of Alcohol (Off Premises)

08:00 to 23:00 Monday to Sunday

 

c)    Late Night Refreshment:

 

23:00 to 23:30 Monday to Thursday: 

23:00 to 00:30 Friday and Saturday  

23:00 to 23:30 Sunday

 

d)    Opening hours

 

08:00 to 23:30 Monday to Thursday: 

23:00 to 00:30 Friday and Saturday  

23:00 to 23:30 Sunday

 

Approved the

 

a)    update of the plans of the premises in line with the plans attached to the application,

 

b)    removal of Conditions 16, 17 and 19 on the premises licence, to allow the premises to operate as a traditional public house.

 

 

c)     Correction of a typographical error in Condition 22, where the word “or” has been omitted.

The correct wording of Condition 22 is as follows:

“22. Any alcohol sold via a delivery service shall be a) Ancillary to a food order or of at least 6 bottles (half a case) of wine /a value of£100 or more.”

 

 

 

• There should be no smoking allowed in the outside terraced area at any time.

 

ACTION BY: Executive Director, Supporting Communities