Agenda item

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

The applicant addressed the sub-committee.  Members had questions for the applicant.

The meeting adjourned at 10.50am to allow officers to look at the history of the previous licence.  The meeting reconvened at 11.28am.

The licensing responsible authority officer addressed the sub-committee.  Members had questions for the licensing officer.

The Metropolitan Police Service representative addressed the sub-committee.  Members had questions for the police.

All parties were given five minutes for summing up.

The meeting adjourned at 12 noon for the sub-committee to consider its decision.

The meeting reconvened at 12.18pm and the chair advised all parties of the decision.

RESOLVED:

That the application made by ASYE Limited for a premises licence to be granted under Section 17 of the Licensing Act 2003 in respect of the premises known as Tower Mangal, 57 Tower Bridge Road, London SE1 4TL is granted as follows:

Conditions

The operation of the premises under the licence shall be subject to relevant mandatory conditions, conditions derived from the operation schedule highlighted in Section M of the application form, the conditions agreed with the Metropolitan Police Service and licensing as a responsible authority during the course of the sub-committee meeting together with additional conditions agreed by the sub-committee:

1.  That a CCTV system be installed at the premises and be maintained in good working order and be continually recording at all times the premises are in use under the licence. The CCTV system must be capable of capturing a clear facial image of every person who enters the premises.

2.  That all CCTV footage shall be kept for a period of thirty one (31) days and shall, upon request, be made immediately available to officers of the police and the council.

3.  That a staff member who is able to operate the CCTV system shall be present at all times that, they are open to the public.

4.  That an incident log (whether written or electronic form) shall be maintained and kept for not less than six months.

5.  That a minimum of one SIA registered door supervisor will be engaged when the premises are in operation on a Friday and Saturday and the terminal hour is greater than 01:00. They will be employed at all times after 22:00 until the end of business and all patrons have vacated the premises they will be engaged to monitor admission and re-admissions to the premises, security, protection, screening, dealing with conflict, monitor and address anti-social behaviour by patrons.

6.  That there shall be no more than five smokers outside at any time and this shall be monitored by staff.

7.  That signage on entrance/exit requesting customers to respect neighbours and leave quietly.

8.  There will be hourly litter picks in the vicinity of the premises from 22:00 hours until the premises closes.

Reasons

The reasons for the decision are as follows:

The licensing sub-committee heard from the applicant who advised that the premises were a ground floor restaurant with takeaway facility. They had held previous licence for the premises until they were required to vacate the building whilst it was rebuilt. During that timer, there had been no issues with compliance with the licence conditions.  At present it was only possible to operate until 23:00 and to make the business economically viable they required a premises licence for extended hours, but they did not seek any more that was on the previous licence. After receiving objections from the police and licensing, the applicant agreed to reduce the hours (as detailed above).

The police informed the licensing sub-committee that under Southwark’s statement of licensing policy, the location of the premises is in a residential area and as such, the hours sought fell outside of the licensing policy. In addition to a reduction in the operating hours, the police also required additional conditions on the licence to promote the crime and disorder licensing objective, which the applicant agreed to.

Licensing as a responsible authority made a similar representation. They advised that whilst historically the applicant had a late licence, the licensing policy recommended that the hours should reflect those in the policy which is deemed appropriate for a residential area.

The licensing sub-committee were reassured that there had been no compliance issues under the old (pre-2016) licence. It was also noted that whilst the statement of licensing policy identified the premises being located in a residential area.  However, the sub-committee noted that Tower Bridge Road was also a busy high road, so not residential in the strictest sense. Given the previous operating history, and the conditions agreed the through the meeting, the sub-committee agreed that the licence should be granted.

The licensing sub-committee also recommended that the applicant use recyclable food containers.

In reaching this decision the sub-committee had regard to all the relevant considerations and the four licensing objectives and considered that this decision was appropriate and proportionate.

Appeal rights

The applicant may appeal against any decision:

a.  To impose conditions on the licence

b.  To exclude a licensable activity or refuse to specify a person as premises supervisor.

Any person who made relevant representations in relation to the application who desire to contend that:

a.  The  licence ought not to be been granted; or

b.  That on granting the licence, the licensing authority ought to have imposed different or additional conditions to the licence, or ought to have modified them in a different way

may appeal against the decision.

Any appeal must be made to the Magistrates’ Court for the area in which the premises are situated. Any appeal must be commenced by notice of appeal given by the appellant to the justices’ clerk for the Magistrates’ Court within the period of 21 days beginning with the day on which the appellant was notified by the licensing authority of the decision appealed against.