Agenda item

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

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

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

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

All parties were given five minutes for summing up.

The meeting went into closed session at 12.18pm.

The meeting resumed at 12.59am. As none of the parties were present the chair did not read out the decision.

RESOLVED:

That a counter notice be issued under Section 105 of the Licensing Act 2003 in respect of a temporary event notice (TEN) served by Mr Carlos Fernando Delgado Armijos in regards to an event to be held at Tropical 186-188 Old Kent Road, London SE1 5TY between 20:00 on 25 March 2016 and 03:30 on 26 March 2016.

Reasons

This was a temporary event notice given by the premises user, Mr Carlos Fernando Delgado Armijos,  in regards to an event to be held at Tropical 186-188 Old Kent Road, London SE1 5TY between 20:00 on 25 March 2016 and 03:30 on 26 March 2016.

The sub-committee heard from the premises user and their representative who advised that contrary to the application stating that the premises user was seeking two TENs on 25 and 26 March, it was in fact for one event starting at 20.00 on 25 March 2016 and ending at 03.30 on 26 March 2016.  The premises had held four previous TENs since the premises user had taken over the licence in May 2015 and there had been no objections from the police. Concerning the issues raised by the responsible authorities, none of these had taken place whilst a TEN had been in operation.  Furthermore, the representative for the premises user contended that the two closure notices issued by the police had been served incorrectly. 

The sub-committee heard from the Metropolitan Police Service representative who objected to the TEN.  The police had been monitoring the premises due to previous instances, breaches of the premises licence and problems relating to the operation of the venue. On 6 December 2015 at approximately 02.15 officers attended the premises and found a male outside the premises extremely intoxicated.  The premises were in breach of their licence as no TEN was in place and the premises were open more than 2 hours beyond the terminal hour.  A Section 19 Closure Notice was therefore issued.  On 3 January 2016, at 03.15, officers visited the premises and found a number of people inside drinking alcohol and music being played.  A further Section 19 Closure Notice was issued.  The police advised that they did not have faith in the management of the premises to run this event.

The sub-committee heard from the council’s environmental protection officer who amplified the police’s position.  They added that the premises user attended an interview under caution and had admitted the offence that took place on 3 January 2016.  As a result the environmental protection team had concerns over the effectiveness of the premises management and that grating the TEN to allow operation until 3.30 could potentially cause public nuisance. 

Given that the premises user’s licence was transferred on 11 May 2015 and that a licensing unit induction took place on 17 June 2015, during which the licence and conditions were explained, including opening and closing hours, the licensing sub-committee are somewhat concerned of the number of breaches and non-compliance that have taken place.  On two occasions police closure notices have been served.  An interview under caution took place on 18 February 2016 and the premises user admitted a criminal offence.  It was also noted that the TEN application was due to start at 20.00 on 25 March 2016 at which time the premises licence would be operational up to 00.00. Therefore, if the TEN were granted, it would circumvent the conditions attached to the premises licence.  Due to the very recent non-compliance of the licence, the sub-committee determine to issue a counter notice.

In reaching this decision the sub-committee had regard to all the relevant considerations and the licensing objectives and felt that this was an appropriate and proportionate decision in order to address the licensing objectives.

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 police or 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.