Agenda item

The licensing officer presented their report.  Members had questions for the licensing officer.

The premises user addressed the sub-committee.  Members had questions for the premises user.

The environmental protection officer addressed the sub-committee.  Members had questions for the environmental protection officer.

Both parties were given five minutes for summing up.

The meeting went into closed session at 11.40am.

The meeting resumed at 11.46am.  The chair did not read out the decision as the parties were not present.

RESOLVED:

That counter notices not be issued under Section 105 of the Licensing Act 2003 in respect of:

i.  Temporary event notice (859128) served by Simon Cotton in relation to an event to be held at 133 Copeland Road, London SE15 3SN (Carpark), between 12:00 and 23:00 on 22 July 2017.

ii.  Temporary event notice (859129) served by Simon Cotton in relation to an event to be held at Bussey Building (D), Block A Roof Top Rear of D, 133 Copeland Road, London SE15 3SN between 12:00 and 23:00 on 21 July and 12:00 and 23:00 on 22 July.

iii.  Temporary event notice (859126) served by Simon Cotton in relation to an event to be held at Copeland Gallery (9l), Unit 9L, Caravan Unit,133 Copeland Road, London SE15 3SN on 21 July 2017 between 12:00 and 01:00 (the following day), 22 July 2017 between 12:00 and 01:00 (the following day).

Reasons

These were temporary event notices (TEN 859128, 859129 and 859126) given by Simon Cotton, the premises user.

The licensing sub-committee heard evidence from the premises user who advised that the event was being organised by the London Beer Factory which was founded three years ago. They distribute to small pubs and clubs and have undertaken a number of small beer festivals.  They informed the sub-committee that there had recently been a huge rise in craft beers in the area, but there was no substantial beer festival in South London.  This was the first craft beer festival in Peckham. The event was therefore to celebrate craft breweries and use the event as a show case for the same. 

The premises user agreed to amend temporary event notice (859128) in relation to the car park so that the event ends at 23:00 in 22 July 2017 in addition to removing the provision of regulated entertainment as only background music would be played.  The premises user agreed to amend temporary event notice, (859126) in relation to Copeland Gallery, so that the events on 21, 22 and 23 July end at 01:00 hours.

The licensing sub-committee heard evidence from the environmental protection officer who advised that the three TENs artificially circumvented the 499 person limit for TENs by splitting what clearly was a single premises, covered by a single premises license, into multiple areas. This was a single event and in practice, it would be impossible for the premises supervisor to reasonably control the movement of potentially 1,248 people through the premises to be assured that no single area exceeded 499 people at any one time whilst licensable activities take place. The TENs would be consenting to something known to be unachievable in practice.

The officer referred to the recent House of Lords Select Committee report on the Licensing Act which covered this issue and which concluded: ‘Where it appears that notices are being given for TENs simultaneously on adjacent plots of land, resulting in effect in the maximum number attending exceeding the 500 person limit, we would expect the police or environmental health officers to object, and the licensing authority to issue a counter-notice. We recommend that the section 182 guidance be amended to make this clear.’

The licensing sub-committee considered all of the oral and written representations before it and were of the opinion that the licensing sub-committee accepted that the provision of TENs within the Licensing Act 2003 were vague as was the section 182 guidance which specifically prohibited the applicant utilising the TENs in the way sought. The sub-committee were sympathetic to concerns raised by the responsible authorities and the recommendations made by the House of Lords Select Committee and concur with their views. At this stage, the details in the report were recommendations only. Any future TENs application utilised in a similar manner (by either the premises user or others) should be decided by a licensing sub-committee. In future, events of this nature and number must be made by time limited premises licence applications.

Appeal rights

Where the relevant counter notice under Section 105(3) is given the premises user may appeal against the decision.  Where counter notice is not given, the chief officer of the environmental protection team may appeal against that decision.  The appeal must be made to the Magistrates’ Court within a period of 21 days beginning with the day on which the applicant was notified by the licensing authority of the decision to be appealed against.  No appeal may be brought later than five working days before the day on which the event begins.