Content

6.1  The Licensing Sub-Committee heard from
Hackney Council’s Principal Licensing Officer (acting). This
was an application for a Premises Licence under the Licensing Act
2003 to authorise live music, recorded music and the supply of
alcohol for consumption on the premises from Monday to Sunday.
 
6.2  During the course of the meeting there
was a discussion where a number of points were raised which
included the following:
 
· 
The Applicant noted the application was proposed in order to create
a safer and more controlled environment at the premises. As a
result a previous application had been withdrawn.
· 
Since October 2023 the premises had changed the security model and
changed the security provider.
· 
The Applicant engaged with residents including hosting a resident
meeting and attending a housing estate resident meeting, to address
concerns. The applicant had acted on feedback received.
· 
The Applicant had trialled alcohol sales through two Temporary
Event Notices (TENs) with no incidents and positive customer
feedback.
· 
The premises was not a public bar and it was proposed to sell
alcohol to pre-booked customers only.
· 
It was proposed to sell beers, ciders, low percentage alcohol, and
pre-mixed cocktails. Hard liquor which included spirits were to be
banned and bag checks undertaken.
· 
The Applicant noted three incidents in the last 18 months which had
been addressed and the Applicant had engaged with the police.
· 
The Applicant had responded to concerns about litter by assigning
regular litter cleaning duties.
· 
The premises banned any persons under 18 years at the premises
after 9.00pm and no alcohol was sold where bookings included
minors.
· 
A 10.00am licence for alcohol sales enabled flexibility, however,
the Applicant was willing to consider an alcohol licence from
4.00pm.
· 
The Applicant noted that the approach proposed was to address
concerns related to outside the premises particularly at later
hours and to have security that supported dispersal and ensured
that there was no nuisance to local residents.
· 
The new security provider had been in place for one year.
· 
Alcohol sales were proposed to take place in an area under the
stairs past the main entrance.
· 
Smokers used a front yard with fencing and overhead covering. The
number of smokers was difficult to quantify and dependent on the
nature of the bookings.
· 
In response to a question the Applicant noted that no drinks were
served in glassware, only cans and cardboard cartons were used.
· 
Waste was placed in onsite bins and it was proposed to provide a
public bin which it was anticipated encouraged public use.
· 
The Police and Licensing Authority noted incidents to which they
had been called related to antisocial behaviour and public nuisance
and had been resolved.
· 
The Police and Licensing Authority representations related to
storage of alcohol and the limit on the amount of alcohol that
customers were allowed to bring to the premises after licensing
hours.
· 
The Police and Licensing Authority considered a licence, with
conditions, to provide increased control and possible enforcement
if any issues arose at the premises.
· 
The Applicant noted proposed options for alcohol after 11.00pm as
(a) no alcohol at all and confiscate and return alcohol found in
bag checks to customers when they leave the premises; (b) customers
allowed to bring in a specified number of beers or ciders. Option
(b) was considered to be a useful compromise which reduced customer
tensions.
· 
In response to Cllr Moema’s
inquiry regarding public urination, the Applicant noted there were
five toilets across two floors at the premises.
· 
It was noted there was one recorded incident of public urination
which resulted in a customer being banned from the premises.
· 
The Applicant suggested the key to management of space outside the
premises was to have security in high visibility jackets who
actively dispersed people away from the premises and ensured
vulnerable customers were supported.
· 
Customers who caused antisocial behaviour or nuisance when leaving
the premises as a result of confiscated drinks that were returned
to them were banned.
· 
The Applicant noted the approach was to control drinking on site
and reduce the range of drinks available for sale. A later licence
with no alcohol allowed to be brought onsite was proposed by the
Applicant. It was acknowledged that this was not what had been
proposed in the application.
· 
The Police and Licensing Authority noted there had been one
incident since January 2025 in which a Security Industry Authority
(SIA) officer requested police assistance, when people had refused
to leave.
· 
The Applicant indicated that a maximum of 30 people can be in the
smoking area outside and was content to consider a condition with a
revised maximum number of people in that area.
· 
On a good operational day there were roughly 60 people in the
building with maximum capacity estimated at 85 people.
· 
Cllr Smyth proposed a condition that no alcohol was brought onto
the premises. This enabled the premises to demonstrate the
successful operation of the venue. The Applicant was then, at a
future date, able to apply to vary the licence to increase the
licensed hours. The Applicant considered this condition to be
reasonable.
· 
It was noted that the venue was able to hold live music events
until 11.00pm.
· 
It was noted that alcohol was sold every day and it was proposed
the words ‘any day alcohol being sold’ attached to
condition 13 be removed.
· 
At condition 28 additional wording was proposed that no noise
emanated from the premises which gave rise to a nuisance ‘in
the nearest noise sensitive premises’.
· 
The Applicant was to share the dispersal policy with the licensing
authority.
· 
Cllr Smyth proposed that alcohol be served from 4.00pm and not
10.00am every day except Saturday and Sunday when alcohol be served
from 12.00noon. This was accepted by the Applicant.
· 
General waste conditions were to be shared with the Applicant by
the Council’s licensing authority.
· 
The Chair proposed that a condition was included, if the
Sub-Committee was minded to grant the application, regarding the
Applicant keeping the demise of the premises tidy.
· 
The Applicant was content to consider a maximum number of smokers
and vaping customers in the smoking area.
· 
The Police and Licensing Authority indicated the guidance for
smoking outside was 10-20% of total capacity.
 
In closing remarks the following was
noted:
 
· 
The Police and Licensing Authority noted the proposed conditions
and considered the police were content with what was proposed.
· 
The Applicant noted that cannabis smoking in and around the venue
was not tolerated.
· 
The Applicant noted that the application was designed to generate
revenue to pay for the security required.
 
The Decision of 1
May 2025:
 
The Licensing Sub-Committee in considering
this decision from the information presented to it within the
report and at the hearing has determined that having regard to the
promotion of all the licensing objectives:
 
? The prevention of crime and disorder;
? Public safety;
? Prevention of public nuisance; and
? The protection of children from harm,
 
The application for a premises licence has
been approved in accordance with
the Council’s Statement of Licensing and
the proposed conditions set out in
paragraph 8.1 of the report.
 
? The hours of licensable activity
 
Live Music
Monday - Sunday   10:00 - 21:30
 
Recorded Music:
Monday - Sunday   10:00 - 22:00
 
 
Sale of alcohol (on
the premises):
Monday - Thursday 16:00 - 23:00
Friday  
16:00 - 00:00
Saturday  
12:00 to 00:00
Sunday  
12:00 to 22:30
 
Non
standard Hours
New Year’s Eve - start 10:00, finish
00:30
 
Opening Hours:
Monday - Sunday 07:00 - 02:00
 
Condition 32 will be amended to read as
follows:
 
“The Premises Licence Holder will
provide a written Dispersal Policy to the Police and the Licensing
Authority”.
 
The following conditions will be added to the
premises licence as agreed with
the Applicant:
 
1. The Licensee shall ensure that all staff
are fully trained and made aware of
the legal requirement of businesses to comply
with their responsibility as
regards the disposal of waste produced from
the business premises. The
procedure for handling and preparing for
disposal of the waste shall be in
writing and displayed in a prominent place
where it can be referred to at all
times by staff.
 
2. The Licensee shall ensure that any contract
for general and recyclable
waste disposal shall be appropriate in size to
the amount of waste produced
by the business. The Licensee shall maintain
an adequate supply of waste
receptacles provided by his registered waste
carrier (refuse sacks or
commercial waste bins) in order to ensure all
refuse emanating from the
business is always presented for collection by
his waste carrier and shall not
use any plain black or unidentifiable refuse
sacks or any other unidentifiable
or unmarked waste receptacles.
 
3. The Licensee’s premises are situated
in an area within which refuse may
only be left on the public highway at certain
times (time bands). If the
Licensee’s waste carrier cannot or does
not comply by collecting the refuse
within an hour after the close of any time
band imposed by the waste
authority, the Licensee must remove the refuse
from the public highway
and/or keep it within the premises until such
time as his/her waste carrier
arrives to collect the refuse.
 
4. The Licensee shall instruct members of
staff to make regular checks of the
area immediately outside the premises and
remove any litter, bottles and
glasses emanating from the premises. A final
check should be made at close
of business.
 
5. The Licensee shall provide a safe
receptacle for cigarette ends to be
placed outside for the use of customers, such
receptacle being carefully
placed so as not to cause an obstruction or
trip.
 
6. The current trade waste agreement/duty of
care waste transfer document
shall be conspicuously displayed and
maintained in the window of the
premises where it can be conveniently seen and
read by persons standing in
Pirate Studios Limited. This should remain
unobstructed at all times and
should clearly identify:-
 
· the name of the registered waste
carrier
· the date of commencement of trade
waste contract
· the date of expiry of trade waste
contract
· the days and times of collection
· the type of waste including the
European Waste Code
 
7. There shall be no more than 12 customers in
the designated smoking area
at any one time.
8. The outside of the premises shall be kept
clean and tidy at all times.
9. Alcohol shall be sold in aluminium cans
only.
10. There shall be a maximum of 60 customers
at any one time
 
Reasons for the
decision
 
The application for a premises licence has
been approved 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 Police made representations on the grounds of Crime and
Disorder and Public Nuisance.
 
The Sub-Committee took into consideration that
5 Other Persons (local
residents) made representations on the grounds
of the four licensing
objectives.
 
The Sub-Committee took into consideration
representations from the Police
who initially had concerns about control of
the premises and the impact on the
area. However, the Police made representations
that the premises are doing
more by having SIA security to prevent
antisocial behaviour and to prevent
problem customers on the premises. The
Sub-Committee noted the Police are
now of the view that a premises licence would
make sure there is tighter
control, and enforcement action can be taken
if necessary. The licence will
help to control the premises and will help to
manage the alcohol consumption
after 23:00.
 
The Sub-Committee took into consideration the
Applicant’s representations
that they have 8 CCTV cameras on site, they
hosted an onsite meeting with
local residents, and they were keeping outside
of the premises clean. The
Sub-Committee heard that SIA security guards
will be on duty until 02:30 at
the premises. The Applicant made
representations that the outside area has
been well managed. A new security company was
brought in one year ago.
The premises have a Dispersal Policy and the
SIA security staff will help them
to identify vulnerable people. The
Sub-Committee noted the premises have
monthly community events.
 
 
The Sub-Committee took into account that the
Applicant made
representations that late bookings and
customers bags will be checked on
entry. In addition, the Applicant made
representations that there is restricted
access to the premises for authorised
customers and staff. The Sub-
Committee noted that the Applicant was happy
to work with the Police to
prevent any antisocial behaviour, and to
ensure the licensing objectives are
not undermined.
 
The Sub-Committee took into consideration the
procedures in place to control
the premises, the improved security, the
reduced hours, and the low strength
alcohol which will help the premises operate
responsibly.
 
The Sub-Committee noted the hours are within
core hours (Policy LP3) there
were no objections from the other Responsible
Authorities. The Sub-
Committee noted the Police were satisfied with
the Applicants proposals and
the conditions on the premises licence.
 
The Sub-Committee took into consideration the
representations from five local
residents, and their objections were taken
into consideration. The Sub-
Committee was satisfied that the Applicant
agreed to conditions for smoking,
waste and keeping the area outside of the
premises clean. The Sub-
Committee noted two large bins are regularly
collected from the premises.
The Sub-Committee took into account that the
maximum capacity is 60
people in any one day, and smokers are
encouraged to smoke away from the
building or to smoke in the front of the yard
next to the premises.
 
The Sub-Committee took into consideration that
the Applicant is an
experienced operator. The Sub-Committee felt
only aluminium cans not
glasses are safer. The Sub-Committee felt the
premises Dispersal Policy, and
the fact that no spirits will be served on the
premises will prevent customers
from causing a nuisance. The Sub-Committee
took into account that the
premises will not be open to the public, and
that there are security measures
in place with restricted access. This will
make it safer and will avoid public
nuisance issues. The above conditions gave the
Sub-Committee assurances
that the licensing objectives would not be
undermined.
 
Having taken all of the above factors into
consideration the Sub-Committee
was satisfied that by granting the premises
licence the licensing objectives
would not be undermined.
 
Public
Informative
The Premises Licence Holder is encouraged to
work with the Responsible
Authorities to prevent any public nuisance or
negative impact in the area.