Agenda, decisions and minutes
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Contact: Simmi Yesmin, Senior Democratic Services Officer Tel: 020 7364 4120, E-mail: simmi.yesmin@towerhamlets.gov.uk
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST PDF 214 KB Members are reminded to consider the categories of interest, identified in the Code of Conduct for Members to determine: whether they have an interest in any agenda item and any action they should take. For further details, see the attached note from the Monitoring Officer.
Members are also reminded to declare the nature of the interest at the earliest opportunity and the agenda item it relates to. Please note that ultimately it is the Members’ responsibility to identify any interests and also update their register of interest form as required by the Code.
If in doubt as to the nature of an interest, you are advised to seek advice prior the meeting by contacting the Monitoring Officer or Democratic Services. Additional documents: Minutes: There were no declarations of interest.
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To note the rules of procedure which are attached for information. Additional documents: Minutes: The rules of procedure were noted.
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ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION Additional documents: |
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Additional documents: Minutes: At the request of the Chair, Ms Corinne Holland, Licensing Officer, introduced the report which detailed the application for a new premises licence for La Verde, Unit 3, the Mosaic, 45 Narrow Street, London E14 8DN. It was noted that objections had been received on behalf of two local residents. It was noted that there had been seven Temporary Event Notices and there had been five complaints received.
At the request of the Chair, Ms Angelique Ferra, Licensing Agent on behalf of the Applicant contested that there had only been one complaint which Environmental Health Officer had confirmed. She then explained that there had been no representation from any of the Responsible Authorities; that the premises had been opened since 2002 in a purpose built building forming part of a piazza; and there was an open space designed for this building.
She explained that a premises licence was granted in 2010 to Riverside Ltd, which was then sold to Mr Ravi Karai in 2012, then the company was dissolved by a Mr Mohammed Moumin, the director of the company without Mr Karai’s knowledge. This meant that the license lapsed as the company was dissolved. However Mr Karai was unaware of this, and as confirmed by Licensing Services, he had continued to pay the Council its annual licence fee .
It was noted that once Mr Karai was made aware that the licence had lapsed (end of May 2020) an application was submitted, and this happened to be during COVID 19. She explained that there were still gatherings in a public open space in the building complex, and questioned why the objections suggest that noise nuisance and public nuisance were associated with this particular premises, when there were two other premises in the piazza.
Members heard from Councillor James King, ward councillor in support of the application. He explained that the objections raised describe the premises as a bar, but this was a café; there were two other licensed premises in the same complex; it was worth noting that the police did not object to the application; and had there been justifiable concerns, responsible authorities would have objected.
Members then heard from Ms Kate Toumazi, local resident. She explained that her objection to the application was not to stop the business from operating. However, there should be measures and conditions in place to manage the excessive noise that was experienced every weekend. The premises had been open, and when the premises had no temporary event notices there was no noise disturbance. She further explained that she had no objection to the premises selling food and drinks inside the premises, but the main concern was when drinks were taken outside by customers who then caused noise nuisance and disturbance. Mr Toumazi also highlighted the types of public nuisance experienced such as unpleasant behaviour, urination, litter, noise and no attempt to control the crowd by staff.
In response to questions from Members the following was noted;
1. Social distancing would ... view the full minutes text for item 3.1 |
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Additional documents:
Minutes: At the request of the Chair, Mr Vincent Fajilagmago, Licensing Officer, introduced the report which detailed the application for a review of the premises licence for London Oktoberfest Ltd, Millwall Park, Isle of Dogs, London E14 3BA. It was noted that the review had been triggered by the Metropolitan Police. The Licensing Authority, Environmental Health, Health and Safety Team and local residents also supported the review application.
At the request of the Chair, PC Mark Perry representing the Metropolitan Police explained that the review had been triggered on the grounds of preventing crime and disorder, public nuisance and due to concerns of public safety. He explained that Oktoberfest was a German beer festival, that attracted up to 2400 people over two weekends during the month of October. The event was held in a large tent with bars, benches and tables located inside. While initially the audience may have been made up with a mix of people, with some attending to experience a German Oktoberfest, over time the audience had changed, and now comprises mostly people who just come to get drunk. This is due to the nature of the event, in that, unlike other events or nights out where alcohol forms part of the experience, at this event, drinking alcohol and getting drunk appears to be the main reason most people now attend. This has resulted in high levels of alcohol related crime and disorder, which can be seen in the incident logs of the security company and the crimes reported to Police.
PC Perry explained that over the two weekends in October 2019 (Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays) the following incidents were recorded by security in their logs:
RECORDED INCIDENTS (Each is a separate incident involving 1 or more people) Incidents of Beer Thrown – 28 Incidents of Fighting / Aggressive Behaviour – 21 Incidents of Code Red / Amber / White – 17 Incidents of Tables Benches Collapsing or People on Tables – 19 Number of Intoxicated people – 65 Ambulance / Police Called – 6 Incidents of Urination – 7 Injuries – 12 Jumping the Fence – 2
He then referred to the incident logs as evidence in the agenda pack. It was noted that despite repeated requests for refusals logs to be kept and recorded, this had not been done. Therefore, the premises licence holders had failed to demonstrate that they are not serving people who are drunk.
It was also noted that the security companies own records have shown the numerous incidents of people fighting, throwing beer glasses, urination in the tent, and other incidents of disorder.
PC Perry stated that Tower Hamlets Police Licensing have worked with the managers of Oktoberfest to try to improve the situation. For the 2019 Oktoberfest there were two planning meetings with the premises licence holder and all responsible authorities prior to the event .
PC Perry concluded that there were far too many people allowed to get drunk, who then engage in violence and disorder, or who make ... view the full minutes text for item 3.2 |
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EXTENSION OF DECISION DEADLINE: LICENSING ACT 2003 The Sub Committee may be requested to extend the decision deadline for applications to be considered at forthcoming meetings due to the volume of applications requiring a hearing. Where necessary, details will be provided at the meeting.
Additional documents: Minutes: Members agreed to extend the decision deadlines for the application below to 30 November 2020; Licensing applications were extended due to the impact of the pandemic, and were adjourned under regulation 11 of the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005, and was in the public interest to do so and did not require representation from parties of the application.
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