Content

Notification of decision following a Licensing Panel hearing to
determine an application for the grant of a premises licence under
section 17 of the Licensing Act 2003
 
PREMISES:    Syon House, Syon Park, Brentford TW8
8JF
 
APPLICANT:  Syon House Ventures
  
TAKE NOTICE THAT
on Thursday 22nd May 2025,following a
hearing before the Licensing and General Purposes Sub Committee
(the “Licensing Panel” or
“Panel”),
 
HOUNSLOW COUNCIL,
as the Licensing Authority for the
Premises,
 
RESOLVED as follows:
 
Decision
 
To Grant with
amendments, the application for a new premises licence for
Syon House, Syon Park, Brentford TW8 8JF, as
follows:
 
Supply of
alcohol for consumption on and off the premises:
Monday to
Sunday 10:00 to 02:00
 
Performance
of Plays - Indoors
Monday to
Sunday 23:00 to 02:00
 
Live Music
- Indoors
Monday to
Sunday 23:00 to 02:00
 
Recorded
Music - Indoors
Monday to
Sunday 23:00 to 02:00
 
Performance
of Dance - Indoors
Monday to
Sunday 23:00 to 02:00
 
Late Night
Refreshment – Indoors and Outdoors
Monday to
Sunday 23:00 to 02:00
 
The opening
hours of the premises:
Monday to
Sunday 10:00 to 03:00
 
Conditions:

 

1.          
For all events that exceed 3000 people, an Event Safety Management
Plan (ESMP) will need to be brought to the attention of the Safety
Advisory Group (SAG). The Event organiser and or Premises License
Holder will undertake a full and detailed consultation with each of
the responsible authorities. This consultation will take place
through the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), chaired by the London
Borough of Hounslow, in the lead-up to the event.
 
An initial Event Safety
Management Plan (ESMP) (first draft) shall be made available to the
Licensing Authority at least 90 days prior to the commencement of
the event period, that will include any additional information or
improvements identified and agreed upon from the previous
event’s multi-agency debrief.
 
The ESMP shall contain
detailed proposals for each event in policies and plans to promote
all the licensing objectives of public safety, prevention of crime
and disorder, prevention of public nuisance, and protection of
children from harm. The ESMP shall be made up of the following
documentation, separated into specific chapters covering the
proposed plan and control measures for the event:
 

·       
Alcohol and Drug Management Plan;

·       
Command, Control and Communications Plan;

·       
Fire Safety Management Plan;

·       
Major Incident Plan;

·       
Medical and Welfare Plan for members of the public attending the
event and staff working at the event;

·       
Noise Management Plan;

·       
Sanitary Facilities Plan;

·       
Security and Stewarding Operational Plan;

·       
Site Plan;

·       
Ticket and Entry Policy;

·       
Trader Information Management Plan;

·       
Traffic and Transport Management Plan;

·       
Waste Management Plan;

·       
Water Supply Plan;

·       
Adverse Weather Plan;

·       
Schedule of Key Dates.

·       
Crowd Management Plan (To include Crime Prevention/Reduction,

·       
Crowd Dynamics and Ticket and Entry Policy
 
A final ESMP shall be made
available to the Licensing Authority and Responsible Authorities no
less than 28 days before the start of the event period. The
contents of the ESMP shall be fully complied with, which shall
convert to a condition of the Licence on receipt of the approval in
writing from the Licensing Authority. No major changes will be made
to the ESMP; any minor changes will be regularly updated to the
local authority as soon as possible. Following the circulation of
the draft ESMPs, the premises licence holder, or an agent on behalf
of and under the authority of the premises licence holder, shall
consult with all responsible authorities and shall take due account
of any advice made by a responsible authority regarding the content
of the ESMP documents.
 

 

2.          
The premises licence holder, or their appointed
representative, shall present, by oral and written
presentation, the draft ESMPs to the London Borough
of Hounslow’s Safety Advisory Group no later than two months
prior to the date of the event. Following this presentation, a
second presentation shall be organised and take place no later than
four weeks prior to the date of the event, whereby the premises
licence holder, or their appointed representative, shall present,
by oral and written presentation, the final versions of the ESMPs
to the London Borough of Hounslow’s Safety Advisory
Group.
 
 

3.          
In the event that a serious assault is committed at
the event (or appears to have been committed), the
management will immediately ensure that:
 
·       
The police (and, where appropriate, the London
Ambulance Service) are called without delay;
·       
The crime scene is preserved so as to enable a full
forensic investigation to be carried out by the police;
and
·       
Such other measures are taken (as appropriate) to
fully protect the safety of all persons present on the
premises.
 

4.          
There shall be a personal license holder on duty on
the premises at all times when the premises are authorised to sell alcohol.
 

5.          
A Challenge 25 proof of age scheme shall be operated
at the premises where the only acceptable forms of identification are recognised photographic identification
cards, such as a driving Licence, passport or proof of age card
with the PASS (Proof of Age Standards Scheme) Hologram.
 

6.          
The premises License holder and or DPS will be
responsible for risk assessing any event (with a capacity of under
3000 people), and making sure the relevant amount of full training
SIA security staff is in place. Who are supplied by an SIA-approved
business.
 

7.          
Any events held in the front (West) lawn of Syon
House are to finish no later than 22:00, and the number of events
held in the front lawn and finishing at 22:00 will be restricted to
no more than 30 events per calendar year. 
 

8.          
The number of events held at the Premises finishing
at 02:00 will be restricted to no more than 15 events per calendar
year.
 
 
 
Reasons
 
 

1)          
The Panel convened in person to determine an
application from Syon House Ventures (the
“Applicant”), which is the trading name for
events at the premises Syon House, Syon Park, Brentford TW8 8JF
(the “Premises”), for a new premises
licence under the Licensing Act 2003. 
 

2)          
The Premises is a Grade 1 listed building with
surrounding grounds that is not currently licensed and is located
in Syon Park, with housing nearby adjacent to the park.   In addition to Syon House, there is also an
event space known as the Clementine that is within part of the Syon
House grounds, and a Hilton Hotel, which is within Syon Park, with
both of those currently holding a premises licence. 
 

3)          
At the hearing, the Applicant was represented by
their Agent, Mike Nickson of Inn Confidence, along with Victoria
Corke and Tori Holcomb of the Applicant and Michael Baxter, an
Agent for the Duke of 
Northumberland. 
 

4)          
The objectors consist of residents near the Premises
and Syon Park.  Five of the objectors also attended in person, although the
Panel was informed that one of the objectors was also asked to
speak on behalf of some other objectors who were unable to attend
the hearing.  The Licensing Authority
did not have prior notification of this, and the Panel was told the
names of the other objectors they were asked to speak on behalf
of.  The Applicant had no objection to
this, and the Panel allowed the objector to speak on behalf of the
other named objectors.
 

5)          
In making its decision, the Panel considered
all the relevant information, including:
 

·       
Written and Oral representations by all the
parties

·       
The Licensing Act 2003 and the steps
appropriate to promotethe
Licensing Objectives

·       
The guidance issued under section 182 of the
Licensing Act 2003 (the “Statutory
Guidance”)

·       
Hounslow Council’s Statement of Licensing
Policy 2020-2025 (the “Council’s
Policy”)

·       
The Human Rights Act 1998
 

6)          
The Panel reviewed the conditions proposed in the
application and those conditions agreed with the Police and
Licensing Authority, shown at Appendix C, that seek to address the
licensing objectives of prevention of crime and disorder,
prevention of public nuisance, protection of children from harm and
public safety. 
 

7)          
In expanding on their application, the Applicant
informed the Panel that Syon House had never held a premises
licence but had held events under temporary event notices (TENS)
without the same level of conditions they were proposing in their
application.  It was also highlighted
that none of the Responsible Authorities had made any
representations, and that conditions had been agreed with the
Police and Licensing Authority.  The
Panel was informed that the Applicant was seeking a licence
primarily to hold pre-booked events, although they may on occasion
have ticketed events where the public may be able to
attend.   The Panel was informed
that most of their clientele were high-net-worth
individuals/groups, and that they engage early with groups looking
to hire the venue to let them know of restrictions applicable to
the Premises, such as no fireworks to be allowed.   They stated that many of the representations
made by the objectors did not appreciate the nature of the events
they proposed to hold, and that they had held a meeting with some
of the objectors.
 

8)          
In addition, the Applicant stated they were willing
to offer further conditions such that they would agree to restrict
the number of events held in the front lawn of Syon House (that
being the western lawn space in front of Syon House up to the front
railings) with a termination time of 22:00 to no more than 30 in a
year, and to restrict the number of events with a termination time
of 02:00 to no more than 15 per year. 
 

9)          
In relation to the concerns raised by the objectors,
which are shown in Appendix B, one of the primary concerns they
raised, both in writing and in their oral submissions at the
hearing, was the potential impact of noise nuisance if the licence
was granted and the Premises allowed to hold events and provide
alcohol and late-night refreshments on and off the Premises up to
02:00 on any day.  In their submissions,
they referred to issues of existing noise nuisance from the Hilton
Hotel and Clementine Tent, which are also located within Syon Park
and are run by different licence holders.  One of the objectors also commented that noise
could be heard from the Coach and Horses pub, which was located on
London Road and outside of Syon Park.   
 

10)      
The Panel was informed that during the summer
months, as the days were longer, there was concern that this would
cause further disruption to their lives, and there did not appear
to be any attempt to control the events held at these other
venues.  Furthermore, the potential for
events going on until 2.00 am, potentially on any day of the week,
could lead to disruption of their sleep.   This could be even worse if these events are
held in marquees in the grounds of Syon House, which would have
less sound protection than events held within the main Syon House
building.
 

11)      
One of the objectors presented a list of conditions
they would want to see added to the premises licence if one were
granted.  This was shown to all other
parties, who did not object to its inclusion, before it was then
presented to the Panel, which considered the same. The Applicant
confirmed that whilst they did not object to the document being
permitted, they did not agree to any of these proposed
conditions.
 

12)      
During questioning, the Applicant acknowledged that
the application, if granted and with their offered restrictions on
the number of events finishing at 02:00, could still mean they
could hold unlimited events finishing at midnight.  In relation to the application seeking to include
off-sales of alcohol, this was so they could hold events such as a
food and wine event, then attendees could purchase alcohol to take
home.
 

13)      
In relation to the entry and departure of attendees,
the Panel was informed that most of their clients are
high-net-worth individuals and so would likely be chauffeured or
would get cabs.
 

14)      
The Objectors also expressed concern over the extent
to which the application was advertised, and there were some
comments about the potential effect of further events on the local
wildlife. In relation to the advertisement of the application, the
Applicant stated this was published in compliance with their legal
obligations, and the Licensing Authority had no information to say
there was any breach of this.  As for
any wildlife issues, if there were any requirements to be complied
with by a party, be that the Applicant or another licence holder,
then they must ensure they comply with the same.    A comment was also made about the need
for further licensed premises in and around Syon Park, but the
question of need was not one for the Panel to
consider.
 

15)      
In considering all the representations, the Panel
took into account the conditions agreed with the Police and
Licensing Authority, as well as the new offered conditions
restricting the number of events held on the West Lawn of the
Premises and finishing at 22:00 and the number of events finishing
at 02:00.  The Panel considered that all
these proposed conditions were sufficient to address concerns over
the prevention of crime and disorder, the prevention of public
nuisance, public safety and the protection of children from
harm.  With the Applicant offering to
restrict the number of events held on the West Lawn, finishing at
22:00 to no more than 30 events per year, the Panel considered it
would also be appropriate for the sake of clarity to confirm that
any events held on the West Lawn should have a termination time of
22:00.
 

16)      
The Panel was also mindful that the Premises is a
Grade 1 listed building, and therefore, they are not the same as a
purpose-built event space.  Furthermore,
whilst the objectors had raised issues about noise nuisance from
other venues in and around Syon Park, no complaints had been made
about any events held at Syon Park and operated under a
TEN.  If there are concerns about how
other licensed venues are operating, then a party would be entitled
to bring an application for a review of their premises licence,
which should be supported with appropriate
evidence.
 

17)      
For these reasons, the Panel decided to grant the
licence with the hours and conditions as set out in this Decision,
comprising the conditions agreed with the Police and Licensing
Authority, and the conditions placing restrictions on the number of
events as outlined above.
 

18)      
Whilst the Panel was not making it a condition, the
Panel noted there was discussion between the parties about
notifying residents about events occurring at Syon
Park.  If the Objectors were able to
provide the Applicant with an email address, or some other single
point of contact or means of communication, then the Panel would
welcome the Applicant giving notice to the Objectors of any future
events at Syon Park.
 
 
Right to Appeal
 

19)      
Any party aggrieved with the
decision of the Licensing Panel on one or more grounds set
out in
Schedule 5 of the Licensing Act 2003 may appeal to the local
Magistrate’s Court within 21 days of notification of this
decision.