Agenda, decisions and minutes

To appoint a Chair for the purposes of this meeting.

RESOLVED:  That Councillor Matthew Goodwin-Freeman be appointed Chair of the Licensing Panel Hearing.

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from all Members present.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interest made by Members

Procedure to be followed at an oral hearing.

The Chair asked the Panel Members, Officers, Responsible Authorities and other attendees at the meeting to introduce themselves and then outlined the procedure for the conduct of an oral hearing, which was set out in the agenda.

The Chair went through agenda item 3 and the order of business.  It was stated that the applicant would be given 10 minutes to present their case.  All other parties would be given five minutes to question the applicant, and an additional five minutes to address the panel.

Report of the Corporate Director, Place.

The licensing authority presented the report for the sub-committee, and noted its appendices pages 9-144.  The application included proposed conditions on the licence, which are set out in Appendix 4 of the application.  There was a further set of conditions marked as ‘final conditions agreed with licensing and police,’ at the same appendix.  The application for the sale of alcohol off the premises for 24 hours.

1.              The Premises are not currently licensed and is situated in an area of mixed commercial and residential properties.

2.              The licensing panel carefully considered all the relevant information including:

·       Written and oral representations

·       The Licensing Act 2003

·       The Guidance issued under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003

·       Harrow Council’s Licensing Policy

·       Human Rights Act 1998

3.              During the licensing panel hearing the facts giving rise to the application for the grant of a premises licence were set out by the licensing officer and were agreed by the Applicant.

4.              The panel heard from the applicant’s representative regarding the new business set up and the 24-hour application sought for a premises licence.  They offered a convenience store for the benefit of the local neighbourhood, with investment having gone into layout and design to ensure it meets neighbouring standards and would create employment opportunity in the area.  The applicant addressed how they would promote the licensing objectives and presented the conditions, as agreed by the responsible authorities, were adequate to promote the licencing objectives.  They confirmed challenge 25 would be adopted and the designated premises supervisor (DPS) was experienced, with a number of other businesses.  They confirmed that the DPS has never come to the attention of any responsible authorities.  The applicant addressed the panel as to the need for an evidence-based decision and stated there were controls and measures in place to promote the licensing objectives through the experienced DPS, the licensing conditions as agreed and the low crime in the area.  They presented data for crime and ASB in the vicinity of 380 Kenton Road, as reported.  They concluded nothing in their application undermined the licensing objectives.

5.              The panel heard from numerous objectors, through written representations to the Licensing authority and those that had attended in person, including local Councillors, who spoke on behalf of the residents.  The representations from the objectors were based on the prevention of crime and disorder, the prevention of public nuisance, protection of children from harm and public safety.  They presented all four licensing objectives were not promoted by the licence sought and raised concerns about the possible consequences of the licence being granted as sought.  Summary of the relevant representations:

A.    Street drinking at unreasonable hours and concerns regarding littering on the adjacent streets and alleyway

B.    Anti-social behaviour (ASB) centring around street drinking, drug use, loitering, noise (particularly when groups congregate, being amplified by the availability of alcohol), fly-tipping, littering (empty alcohol and food containers) and public urination.  This was identified by local residents as a potential to spill into local Parks.

C.    Lack  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.