Agenda, decisions and minutes

1.1  Councillor Patrick was duly elected to chair the meeting.

2.1  Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Bell.

3.1  There were no declarations of interest.

4.1  The Chair outlined the hearing procedure at the meeting.

The Licensing Sub-Committee in considering this decision from the information presented to it within the report and at the hearing today 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;
• The protection of children from harm;

the application for has been approved in accordance with the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy and the proposed conditions set out in paragraph 8.1 of the report, with the following amendments:

·  Condition 4 – To delete the words ‘incident’ and delete condition 4(g) ‘ Any refusal of the sale of alcohol’ 

·  Condition 6 – To delete the words ‘Designated Premises Supervisor ‘

and the following additional condition:

·  The Licensee shall instruct member of staff to make regular checks of the area immediately outside the premises and remove any litter and bottles emanating from the premises. A final check should be made at close of business. 

Reasons for the decision

The application has been approved, with the above additional condition, as the Licensing Sub-committee was satisfied that the licensing objectives would not be undermined.

The sub-committee took into consideration that the Metropolitan Police had withdrawn their representations, and agreed conditions with the applicant in advance of the hearing.

After hearing from the applicant, the applicant’s representative, and the Responsible Authority (Licensing), the sub- committee believed that the nature and operation of the premises as well the premises being located within a commercial area will not adversely impact on the area and local residents. 

The sub-committee also noted that the applicant had demonstrated that he had engaged with the Responsible Authorities to address their concerns, no representations had been received from Other Persons and there are no residents living above the premises. 

Having taken all of the above factors into consideration the sub-committee were satisfied, when granting the licence that the licensing objectives would be promoted.

5.1  NOTED the additional information circulated at the meeting.

5.2  Mike Smith, Senior Licensing Officer introduced the application and reported that the police had withdrawn its representation following an agreement with the applicant to additional conditions. However, the representation remained from Licensing.

5.3  Matiullah Azimi made the following points in support of the application.  The proposed later hours of licensable activities would allow him to generate more business and ensure his business was viable.  He operated a pizza takeaway business only with no deliveries, which currently closed at 23.00 hours. There were no other pizza businesses and commercial premises within the vicinity of the premises. 

5.4  In response to a questions from Members regarding the opening hours of nearby businesses and CCTV system, Mr Azimi stated that Dixy’s closed at 23.00 hours and confirmed that the three staff members at the premises were familiar with the operation CCTV system.

5.5  David Tuitt, Licensing, outlined his representation against the application based on the grounds of the prevention of public nuisance and Council’s core hours. He stated that the proposed hours of licensable activity exceeded the hours permitted within the Council’s LP3 core hours. The premises was also located in a busy high street area that already experienced late night activity with other business operating beyond 23.00 hours including the Turnpike that closed at midnight.

5.6  Mr Tuitt indicated that if the Sub-Committee were minded to grant the licence that there would be minor amendments to the police’s proposed conditions 4 and 6.

5.7  The applicant and Mr Tuitt did not sum up.

5.8  RESOLVED: The Licensing Sub-Committee in considering this decision from the information presented to it within the report and at the hearing today 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;
• The protection of children from harm;

the application for has been approved in accordance with the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy and the proposed conditions set out in paragraph 8.1 of the report, with the following amendments:

·  Condition 4 – To delete the words ‘incident’ and delete condition 4(g) ‘ Any refusal of the sale of alcohol’ 

·  Condition 6 – To delete the words ‘Designated Premises Supervisor ‘

and the following additional condition:

·  The Licensee shall instruct member of staff to make regular checks of the area immediately outside the premises and remove any litter and bottles emanating from the premises. A final check should be made at close of business. 

Reasons for the decision

The application has been approved, with the above additional condition, as the Licensing Sub-committee was satisfied that the licensing objectives would not be undermined.

The sub-committee took into consideration that the Metropolitan Police had withdrawn their representations, and agreed conditions with the applicant in advance of the hearing.

After hearing from the applicant, the applicant’s representative, and the Responsible Authority (Licensing), the sub- committee believed that the nature and operation of the premises as well the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Licensing Sub-Committee in considering this decision from the information presented to it within the report and at the hearing today 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;
• The protection of children from harm;

the application has been approved in accordance with the with the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy and the proposed conditions set out in paragraph 8.1 of the report, as follows:

 The opening hours and the hours for licensable activity are: 

Opening Hours: 

Monday to Friday            07:00 – 23:00 hours

Saturday to Sunday        08:00 -  23:00 hours

Supply of Alcohol (on the premises): 

     Monday to Sunday          10:00 - 22:30 hour

      ·    Condition 16 to be amended and will read as follows: 

“There shall be no glass, or open containers taken outside of the premises at any time”.

• Condition 17 – to be amended and read as follows:

‘All alcohol should be served to customers that are seated at tables and ancillary to food.’

·  No “off sales” of alcohol are permitted.

• The following condition to be deleted from the operating schedule:

“ number expected to attend at any one time 100”.

And the following additional conditions to be added to the licence:

·  The premises shall only operate as a restaurant with the exception of the cafe and delicatessen area.

·  The supply of alcohol shall be by waiter or waitress service only. 

·  All meals that are prepared on the premises must be provided as a substantial table meal, to be served and consumed at a table using non-disposable crockery.

·  Alcohol shall not be sold or supplied, or consumed on the premises otherwise than to persons who are taking substantial table meals, and that the consumption of alcohol by such persons is ancillary to taking such meals notwithstanding patrons may take away part consumed food from the premises. 

·  The capacity of the premises shall be limited to no more than 20 seated patrons for the sale, supply and consumption of alcohol on the premises at any time.

Reasons for the decision

The application has been approved with the above additional conditions, as the Licensing Sub-committee was satisfied that the licensing objectives would not be undermined.

The sub-committee took into consideration that the Metropolitan Police and Environmental Protection had withdrawn their representations in advance of the hearing, following the applicant agreeing to their proposed conditions.

After hearing from the applicant, the applicant’s representative, the legal representative of the Other Persons and the Other Persons the sub-committee believed the applicant had demonstrated remorse for the sale of alcohol without a licence on 17 July 2019 and had since employed professional advice.

The sub-committee also noted the series of alleged sales of alcohol without a licence during the month of July 2019, however, no evidence had been submitted at the hearing to corroborate these allegations, and the Council’s Licensing Team had not received any formal complaints relating to the premises’ operation including events held  ...  view the full decision text for item 6.

?6.1  NOTED the additional information circulated at the meeting.

6.2  Mike Smith, Senior Licensing Officer introduced the new premises licence for the supply of alcohol. The supply of alcohol off premises had been removed from the application.  Representations from Environmental Protection and the Police had been withdrawn following the applicant’s acceptance of proposed conditions. The representation from the Other Person remained.

6.3  Andy Newman, agent representing the applicant, outlined his representation in support of the application.  The premises was located outside the special area policy and the hours being sought for the supply of alcohol from 10.00 to 22.30 hours was within the Council’s licensing policy.  There would be a maximum of 20 covers and alcohol would be served to seated patrons and as an ancillary to food.  This was a small Italian independent business serving authentic homemade Roman cuisine. Which was opened by two Italian friends with previous experience of working in licensed premises.  The applicant admitted that the two sided board advertising the Pritz drinks had been done in error and that the other side advertising breakfast offer should have been displayed.  However this error had occurred when he first opened the business.

6.4  Luke Elford, representing the Other Persons outlined his representation against the application based on the grounds of crime and disorder, public nuisance, the protection of children from harm and cumulative impact.  The applicant had been operating licensable activities without a premises licence and Other Persons had witnessed breaches of the Licensing Act 2003 in relation to the supply of alcohol on 17, 19 and 26 July 2019.  Concerns were expressed regarding the applicant’s behaviour and as experienced operator he should have been aware that the supply of alcohol was a breach.  This also demonstrated the applicant’s lack of understanding of the licensing legislation and concerns of upholding the promotion the licensing objectives. 

6.3  The Chair sought further clarification regarding the three alleged incidents of the supply of alcohol.  Mr Elford confirmed that Mr Ward had witnessed the sale of a Heineken beer served with a meal on 17 July 2019.  Ms Turner witnessed the supply of alcohol on 19 July and a board advertising the sale of alcoholic Spitz drinks on 26 July 2019.  They believed that there had been repeated incidents of the supply of alcohol without a licence. 

6.4  Mr Settembre responded that on 17 July 2019 an alcoholic drink had been served to a customer and accepted this had been a mistake.  He confirmed that on 19 July 2019 that there had been no supply of alcohol to its customers and on 26 July 2019 the two sided board, advertising a breakfast offer on one side and Spitz drink on the other side, had mistakenly been left on the side displaying the Spitz drink however he assured the Sub-Committee that no alcoholic drinks had been supplied to customers on that day.  Mr Newman added that the applicant accepted his mistake on 17 July 2019 and apologised for serving the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.1  There were no temporary event notices.