Agenda item

The licensing officer presented the report.  Members had no questions for the licensing officer.

The applicant’s representative addressed the sub-committee. Members had questions for the applicant and their representative.

The sub-committee heard from a local resident who objected to the application.  Members had questions for the local resident.

All parties were given five minutes for summing up.

The licensing sub-committee went into closed session at 12.28pm.

The licensing sub-committee resumed at 1.48pm and the chair read out the decision of the sub-committee.

RESOLVED:

That the application submitted by Floreat Ticino Ltd for the grant of a premises licence issued under the Licensing Act 2003 in respect of Ground & Lower Ground Floors, 177 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3UWis 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.

Subject to the following additional conditions as agreed by the applicant and the Metropolitan Police:

1.  That a CCTV system be installed at the premises and be maintained in good working order and be continually recording at all times that 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 31 days and shall, upon request, be made immediately available to officers of the police or the council.

3.  That all staff are trained in their responsibilities under the Licensing Act 2003 and trainingrecords to be kept and updated every six months and shall, upon request, be immediately available to officers of the police and the council.

4.  That suitable notices shall be displayed requesting people to leave the premises in a quiet and orderly manner so as not to disturb local residents.

5.  That intoxicating liquor shall not be sold or supplied on the premises otherwise to persons purchasing meals or purchasing food to take away or persons waiting to be seated for a table meal and for consumption by such persons as an ancillary to that meal.

Reasons

This was an application submitted by Floreat Ticino Ltd for the grant of a premises licence issued under the Licensing Act 2003 in respect of Ground & Lower Ground Floors, 177 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3UW.

The licensing sub-committee heard evidence from the applicant who informed the sub-committee that this was a family establishment and that both floors would be run as a restaurant and not a bar.  They advised that the premises had been operating under temporary event notices (TENs) since February 2014 and that there had been no complaints from residents.  To date customers had been bringing their own alcohol to the restaurant to drink whilst dining.  They added that having a licence would allow the premises to have greater control over the alcohol served and consumed. 

The premises advised that they had conciliated with the police and agreed to the conditions put forward by the police.  On questioning about the lack of conciliation with local residents, the applicant advised that they had not attempted to conciliate as a number of the representations were factually incorrect. 

In response to questioning about the prevention of nuisance caused by smokers outside the premises, the applicant advised that there had been no complaints to date and that all staff would be trained to deal with customer dispersal and that the CCTV system outside would record any incidents should they arise and that the relevant authorities would be contacted immediately.  They further advised that a sign would be displayed asking customers to leave the premises in a quiet and orderly manner so as not to disturb local residents.

In their summing up, the applicant advised that they would work with neighbours should there be any concerns in the future.

The licensing sub-committee noted that there were 11 representations submitted by other persons (local residents) but only one attended the hearing.  The other person, in attendance, advised that they were not averse to a successful business being in place at the premises and in fact they were glad to see the premises in use again, after being empty for some time.  The local resident advised that they had been disappointed not to have been consulted by the premises prior to the hearing.

The local resident raised concerns relating to planning issues.  However, the sub-committee informed the local resident that this was not a relevant consideration for the licensing sub-committee hearing. 

The local resident accepted that the nature of Bermondsey Street had changed in recent years and that there was now a café culture on the street.  However, she expressed concerns that an additional licensed restaurant would contribute to existing public nuisance issues in the area. However, the sub-committee noted that this premises was not in a saturation zone, so could not consider the potential of cumulative impact. The local resident advised that there was already an issue relating to smokers congregating in the vicinity and due to the nature of the alley way next to the building noise would travel, creating an echo effect, which disturbed local residents.  She also advised that there was noise from the extractor fan system of the premises.  However, they did accept that there was no noise emanating from this premises.

The sub-committee noted that despite being advised by the licensing officer administrating the application to consider submitting a conciliation statement and offering a conciliation meeting, there had been no attempts at conciliation with the local residents or concessions from the applicant.  However, on the evidence before the sub-committee, there were no reasonable grounds to refuse the application or reduce the hours sought.  The sub-committee recommends that the applicant liaises with local residents in order to address any issues in the future.

In reaching this decision the sub-committee had regard to all the relevant considerations and the four licensing objectives.

The licensing sub-committee considered that it was appropriate and proportionate to attach these conditions in order to address the licensing objectives.

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)  That 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  the conditions of 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.