Agenda item
Application for a Temporary Event Notice for The George Tavern, 373 Commercial Road, London E1 0LA
Minutes:
At the request of the Chair, Ms Kathy Driver, Licensing Officer, introduced the report, which detailed the application for a temporary event notice (TEN) for George Tavern, 373 Commercial Road, London E1 0LA. It was noted that an objection had been made by the Police. Ms Driver highlighted that the Premises Licence Holder could apply for a maximum of 15 TENs in a calendar year and they had only applied for one in January 2018.
At the request of the Chair, Ms Pauline Foster, Applicant, explained that she occasionally applies for TENs if she gets requests for parties etc. but this was very rare. She explained that on this occasion they had been asked if they could host a party, customers would be from outside the Borough and would have three live bands playing.
Members then heard from PC Mark Perry, Metropolitan Police who highlighted the fact that since August 2018 there have been four incidents of drunken violence at the premises, he referred to his statement in the supplemental agenda and highlighted the incidents. He explained that the incidents all occurred late at night, and had been the cause of drunken violence and therefore this was an example of management failing to control customers. It was noted that Halloween was a busy period and there would be a high risk that there would be further disorder especially if licensed till 3am and this was a risk the Police could not take.
In response to questions the following was noted:
- That the event would have 2 SIA security staff, 4 bar staff and 1 sound engineer.
- That the Applicant has helped the Police on many occasions by providing their CCTV footage for incidents that have happened on the streets.
- That the main entrance to the pub was through Jubilee Place.
- That a lot of customers have been banned from the premises which will help eliminate any further disturbance.
- That Ms Foster has been running the premises for past 15 years with no complaints.
- Ms Foster stated that they hadn’t received any correspondence from the Police to provide information regarding the recent incidents. However, whenever she has been contacted in the past for information it has been provided.
- That there had been four incidents of disorder in the space of the last couple of months
- That PC Perry was meeting with Ms Foster on Thursday this week to discuss the application.
- That there was too much of a risk associated with this application, and an option would be to negotiate reduced hours and should Police be satisfied then there was an option for a late TEN.
- That the event would also be open to the public.
- That two security staff were adequate to cover the size of the venue.
- It was noted that it was not a destination pub and did not have a big footfall of customers.
- That they employed the same two security staff in order to ensure continuity and for them to recognise customers who have been banned and customers that cause disturbance.
- That they had 10 CCTV cameras capturing all areas inside and outside the pub and in the past have helped the police with their investigations that have not related to the premises.
PC Perry stated that there was no doubt, that the applicants were good people and have helped the Police. However he was concerned that it was an outside event and don’t know how many people would turn up. There were also risks, as there had been four incidents in such a short space of time.
Mr Everest Wilson-Corp, Ms Foster’s son stated that they only had security staff on Fridays and Saturdays and couldn’t afford to have them 7 days a week. However for the event would be happy to employ additional security staff.
Members adjourned the meeting at 7.10pm for deliberations and reconvened at 7.30pm
The Licensing Objectives
In considering the application, Members were required to consider the same in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003 (as amended), the Licensing Objectives, the Home Office Guidance and the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy and in particular to have regard to the promotion of the four licencing objectives:
- The Prevention of Crime and Disorder;
- Public Safety;
- Prevention of Public Nuisance; and
- The Protection of Children from Harm
Consideration
Each application must be considered on its own merits and the Chair stated that the Sub Committee had carefully considered all of the evidence before them and had heard representation from the Applicants and the Officer representing the Metropolitan Police.
Members noted the number of repeated incidents over the last couple of months and were concerned that these incidents had happened over such a short period of time. Members were of the view that at the moment it was not clear from any evidence that the Premises Licence Holder was upholding the licensing objectives of the prevention of crime and disorder and the prevention of public nuisance.
Members welcomed the dialogue between the Police and the Premise Licence Holder and noted that they had arranged a meeting between themselves to discuss the particular event and other incident related issues. Members encouraged this to continue and were hopeful that a satisfactory decision would be reached between them, possibly via a Late Temporary Event Notice application.
Members reached a decision and the decision was unanimous. Members decided to refuse the application on the basis that on the balance of probability, if the application was granted, it would undermine the licensing objectives.
Decision
Accordingly, the Sub-Committee unanimously –
RESOLVED
That the application for a Temporary Event Notice for George Tavern, 373 Commercial Road, London E1 0LA be REFUSED.
Supporting documents: