Agenda item

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

 

The applicant for the review, a local resident, and their legal representative addressed the sub-committee.  Members had questions for the applicant and their representative.

 

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

 

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

 

Two local residents, supporting the review, addressed the sub-committee.  Members had questions for the local residents.

 

Two local residents supporting the premises addressed the sub-committee.  Members had questions for the local residents.

 

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

 

All parties were given five minutes for summing up.

 

The meeting went into closed session at 2.02pm.

 

The meeting resumed at 3.10pm. As none of the parties were present the chair did not read out the decision of the sub-committee.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the council’s licensing sub-committee, having considered and application by an other person for a review of the premises under Section 51 of  the Licensing Act 2003 in respect of the premises known asMamuska, 16 Elephant and Castle, London SE1 6TH and having had regard to all other relevant representations has decided  it necessary for the promotion of the licensing objectives to:

 

Modify the conditions of the licence by adding the following conditions:

 

1.  That the premises will be open Monday to Saturday between 10.00 to 02:30 and on Sunday 12:00 to 23:00.

 

2.  That a contact telephone number the management of the premises will be clearly displayed within the premises.

 

3.  That external waste handling, collections, deliveries and the cleaning of the external areas shall only occur between 08:00 and 22:00.

 

4.  That the external picnic tables and chairs will be stacked and secured in such a way as to discourage their use after closure of the premises.

 

5.  That the premises will use its best endeavours to encourage those visiting the premises not to park their vehicles alongside the wall of the Strata Pavilion.

 

6.  That the premises shall install and maintain a comprehensive CCTV system, with all entry and exit points being covered, enabling clear facial image identification of every person entering in any light condition.  The CCTV system shall continually record whilst the premises is open for licensable activities and during all times when customers remain on the premises.  All recordings shall be stored for a minimum period of 31 days, with date and time stamping.  Viewing of the recordings shall be made available upon the reasonable request of the Police or authorised Council officer throughout the entire 31 day period (subject to any obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998).

 

7.  That a staff member from the premises who is conversant with the operation of the CCTV system must be able to provide a Police or authorised Council officer copies of recent CCTV images or data with the absolute minimum of delay.

 

8.  That the maximum external capacity will be limited to 50.

 

9.  No drinks in unsealed containers are permitted beyond the external frontage area at anytime.

 

10.  That the external tables and chairs shall be located no closer than 1 metre to the wall of the Strata Pavilion building.

 

11.  That the external area will be out of use between 22:00 and 08:00, with all furniture having been brought into the premises or, if left outside, rendered unusable.

 

12.  That the premises will use its best endeavours to ensure that any moving of outside furniture and barriers is done in a quiet and orderly fashion.

 

13.  That between 23:00 and 08:00, no alcoholic drinks sold or supplied by the premises shall be permitted to be consumed in the external area outside the premises.

 

14.  That after 23:00, customers permitted to temporarily leave and then re-enter the premises to smoke must be directed towards a designated smoking area, located to the right of the premises (as viewed from the street) and away from the Strata Pavilion building.  No more than 7 customers will be permitted to remain in this designated smoking area at any one time.

 

15.  That no external areas of the premises, including the external frontage area, shall be used for the purposes of regulated entertainment.

 

16.  That amplified music, song or speech shall not be broadcast in external areas at any time after 19:00.

 

Reasons

 

The reasons for this decision are as follows:

 

The licensing sub-committee heard from both the applicant and the representative for the applicant of the review who advised the licensing sub-committee that the operation of the premises causes a noise nuisance throughout the day with offensive language being used at times, and noise nuisance at anti-social hours which, on occasions, went beyond the end of the premises terminal hour for licensable activities, sometimes, until past 04:00.  Noise pollution had been caused by the broadcasting of live sport events to the exterior of the premises.  Tables and chairs get dragged across the floor and in addition to this waste glass gets tipped into the premises’ bottle bin at anti-social hours often past midnight and into the early hours of the morning causing noise nuisance.  Benches were being left outside of the premises after the premises close which invited passers by to use them.

 

The Metropolitan Police Service representative advised the sub-committee of a number of incidents most of which were noise related issues, including bad language, and such offensive words can constitute an offence under the Public Order Act 1986.  Regardless of whether a criminal offence has been committed, such incidents can amount to anti-social behaviour.  The Metropolitan Police viewed the allegations referred to in the review application as amounting to a public nuisance and recommended that conditions be added to the licence relating to CCTV, SIA staff and a possible reduction in hours.

 

The environmental protection officer addressed the sub-committee and advised that the council’s noise nuisance team had a number of complaints of noise nuisance concerning patrons of the premises. 

 

The representative for the environmental protection team recommended a number of conditions be added to the licence.  The officer also informed the meeting that the land immediately outside the premises belonged to the council’s housing department and that the premises had neither a table and chairs licence, nor permission from the housing department allowing the premises to have the sole use the land outside the premises.

 

The licensing sub-committee heard from two local residents supporting the review who submitted representations relevant to the prevention of crime and disorder and public nuisance licensing objectives.  Complaints included that benches were not being removed at night promoting people to use them when the premises were shut; noise nuisance caused by customers and delivery motorcycles; odour nuisance caused by the cooking at the premises and customers smoking and anti-social behaviour.

 

The licensing sub-committee heard from two other persons supporting the premises. Both advised that the management for the premises were proactive when comments or complaints were very reactive and the premises played a positive role in the community.

 

The licensee of the premises addressed the sub-committee and advised that the company has been in operation since 2009 until 2015 when they moved to the current location.  The premises are a restaurant bar that serve traditional Polish food with a modern twist in a fast casual environment with low prices.  Any concerns raised by local residents were addressed at the earliest opportunity. All of the applicant’s complaint had now been resolved.  A list of proposed conditions was produced and the licensee stated that there remained a handful of items that remained in dispute, namely, the movement of the furniture including the barrier, and the use and maximum capacity of the external area.

 

The licensing sub-committee were grateful to the parties for the extent of conciliation that had taken place prior to the meeting.  Mamuska Restaurant Bar is located in a mixed residential and commercial area and as such, the premises must be mindful of the impact its operation has on local residents.  This sub-committee accept that the operation of Mamuska Bar Restaurant has had a greater negative impact upon the residents of the Strata Pavilion then those of Draper House due to design and layout of block.  The residents of Strata Pavilion are as close as 4 metres to the premises’ outside furniture and the dragging of this furniture and people noise outside of the premises means that the residents no longer have any quiet enjoyment in their homes.  The conditions imposed will go some way to address this imbalance.

 

The licensee is finally reminded that at present there is no table and chairs licence nor permission to use the external frontage outside of the premises.  The necessary permission must be sought failing which enforcement action is likely to be taken.

 

Appeal rights

 

This decision is open to appeal by either:

 

a)  The applicant for the review

b)  The premises licence holder

c)  Any other person who made relevant representations in relation to the application  

 

Such appeal must be commenced by notice of appeal given by the appellant to the justices’ clerk for the Magistrates’ Court for the area within the period of 21 days beginning with the day on which the appellant was notified by this licensing authority of the decision.

 

This decision does not have effect until either

 

a)  The end of the period for appealing against this decision; or

b)  In the event of any notice of appeal being given, until the appeal is disposed of.