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RESOLVED:
 
The decision of 19th
November 2024
 
The Licensing Sub-Committee, in considering
this decision from the information presented to them within the
report at the hearing and having regard to the promotion of the
licensing objectives:
 
· 
The prevention of crime and disorder
· 
Public safety
· 
Prevention of public nuisance
· 
The protection of children from harm
 
The amended application to vary a premises
licence has been partially approved to update the plan of the
premises in accordance with the Council’s Statement of
Licensing and the proposed conditions set out in paragraph 8.1 of
the report as follows:
 
1. 
The plan annexed to the premises licence of the basement floor has
been amended.
 
2. 
The plan annexed to the premises licence of the ground floor has
been amended.
 
3. 
Conditions 8, 14, 15 and 16 have been amended and replaced with new
and additional conditions set out in Appendix A1 in the agenda.
 
4. 
Extended hours for licensable activities has been partially
approved:
 
Sale of Alcohol
Friday to Saturday 
11:00-00:00
 
Late Night
Refreshment
Friday to Saturday 
23:00-00:00
 
Recorded Music
Friday to Saturday 
23:00-00:00
 
Live Music
Friday to Saturday 
23:00-00:00
 
The opening hours of the premises
 
Monday to Thursday   
11:00-00:00
Friday to Saturday   
11:00-00:30
Sunday 
12:00-23:30
 
Amended
conditions:
 
· 
Conditions 14 and 15 of the existing premises license to be removed
from the premises licence.
 
· 
Amend condition 19 to read as follows:
 
"Whenever this area is open and
providing licensable activity after midnight then at least one SIA
security member shall be employed within this area from 22:00 until
at least 20 minutes after the premises close".
 
And the following
condition shall be added to the premises licence:
 
· 
No off sales permitted at the premises.
· 
When the premises operate beyond midnight on Fridays and Saturdays
there shall be no new entry after midnight.
· 
When the premises open beyond midnight patrons shall disperse from
the premises via Old Street.
· 
After 21:00 All external doors and windows shall be kept closed,
except for access and egress, and in cases of emergencies.
· 
When operating after midnight on Friday and Saturday the smoking
area shall have no more than 6 persons at any one time.
· 
A sound limiter shall be installed in the restaurant on the ground
floor and it shall be calibrated with the approval of the
Environmental Protection Service.
· 
The Premises Licence Holder shall liaise with the Environmental
Protection Service within 2 months from the issue of this decision
to ensure that the recommendations for noise works in the Noise
Mitigation Report dated 12th November 2024 are completed in the
basement area to the satisfaction of the Council's Environmental
Protection Service.
· 
The Premises License Holder shall submit a written disposal policy
to the Licensing Authority and the Police for approval. The
approved dispersal policy shall be implemented at the premises. All
staff shall be briefed on this dispersal policy. A copy of the
policy shall be kept on the premises and shall be produced to a
police officer or other authorised officer upon request.
 
Reasons for the
decision
 
The application to vary this premises licence
has been partially approved to update the layout of the premises
and the conditions, as members of the Licensing Sub-committee were
satisfied that the licensing objectives would not be
undermined. 
 
The Sub-committee took into consideration that
the Metropolitan Police Service (“the Police”) had
withdrawn their representations, and agreed conditions with the
Premises Licence Holder in advance of the hearing.
 
The ?Sub-committee took into consideration
representations made by the ?Licensing ?Authority on the grounds of
?public nuisance and cumulative impact. This was supported by a
cumulative impact study of the area. ?The Sub-committee noted that
the ?Licensing ?Authority made no representations about the change
of layout.
 
The Sub-committee took into consideration
representations made by the ?legal representative? for the Premises
Licence Holder that it was a modest application and they? had
agreed conditions with ?Environmental ?Protection Service and the
?Police which mitigated the impact of the ?application.
 
The ?Sub-committee noted that the premises had
?a number of temporary event notices ?and there had been no
problems ?arising that the ?Premises ?Licence ?Holder ?was aware
of. The ?Sub-committee noted that the application to vary the
premises license would mean that the ?premises would not have to
?use temporary ?event notices to authorise activity. ?It was noted
that there had been no late night event since the 8th of
November.
 
?The Sub-committee took into consideration
that the ?Premises ?Licence ?Holder had ?recently? carried out all
the ?recommended? works as set out in the noise report to prevent
noise nuisance.
 
The ?Sub-committee took into consideration the
representations from seven ?Other ?Persons ?(local residents?) ?who live above and close to the
premises. The ?Sub?-committee took into consideration that young
families were affected by the late night noise from ?the premises.
The ?Sub-committee took into account that the local residents
objected to the extended hours of the premises late at night ?which
?could cause noise ?nuisance and anti-social behaviour from late
night events ?such as music from parked ?cars, patrons fighting and
being loud? late at night.
 
The ?Sub-committee took into consideration
representations from a local resident ?who suffered from disturbed
sleep late at night due to noise ?and loud music coming from the
premises. ?The ?Sub-committee took into account that local
residents had concerns about the smoking area on Rufus Street,
which would affect them ?because their properties ?are situated on
Rufus Street. The ?Sub-committee noted ?the local residents felt
the proposed application is a substantial change to a restaurant
with loud music.
 
The ?Sub-committee decided to grant a partial
approval of the variation application because of concerns about the
impact of public nuisance on the local residents if the operating
hours were extended. The ?Sub-committee took into consideration the
sound limiter in the basement had not been tested and there was no
evidence ?to show that the noise from the premises would no longer
impact local residents late at night.
 
The ?Sub-committee felt that there was a need
for soft closure 30 minutes before closure of the premises each
day? including Fridays and Saturdays ?to ensure that dispersal from
the premises is carried out ?without causing a disturbance to local
residents. The ?Sub-committee noted that the local residents made
representations about problems obtaining enforcement action on
three ?separate occasions following noise complaints.
 
The ?Sub-committee felt there should be no
re-entry to the premises after midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
The Sub-committee took into consideration the representations from
local residents, and the need to assess how the premises operate to
prevent noise nuisance and noise breakout that has caused a
disturbance to local residents.
 
The Sub-committee took into consideration that
residents are very close to the premises and impacted by noise. The
Sub-committee also took into account that the noise travelled up
through the existing building, via the lift shaft, from the ground
floor. The Sub-committee felt this needed to be addressed before
additional hours were considered.
 
The Sub-committee also took into consideration
that the Licensing Authority maintained their objection due to the
evidence of cumulative impact in the area. 
 
Having taken all of the above factors into
consideration the Sub-committee was satisfied that by partially
granting this variation to the licence to change the layout to the
premises and amending the conditions on the premises licence that
the licensing objectives would continue to be promoted. However,
they felt that they could not grant the extended hours due to the
impact on local residents.
 
Public Informatives
 
1. 
The ?Premises ?Licence ?Holder is advised to consider ?a wind down
period of 30 minutes before the premises closes on Sunday to
Thursday to prevent public nuisance and to ensure dispersal from
the premises.
 
2. 
The ?Premises ?Licence ?Holder ?is advised to continue to work with
local residents and ?the Responsible ?Authorities ?to prevent
public nuisance and disturbance to local residents who live above
?and near to the premises.