Agenda item
Application for Variation of a Premises Licence for London Cocktail Club Commercial Unit 12, 29 Sclater Street London E1 6LB
Minutes:
At the request of the Chair, Ms Lavine Miller-Johnson, Licensing Officer, introduced the report which detailed the application for a variation of the premises licence for Cocktail Club, Commercial Unit 12, 29 Sclater Street, London E1 6LB. It was noted that an objection had been received on behalf of the Licensing Authority.
At the request of the Chair, Ms Lana Tricker, Legal Representative on behalf of the Applicant, explained that the application for variation is seeking for earlier opening hours as opposed to later hours. She explained that the premises already had opening hours from 10am and wanted to vary the licence in line with the opening hours in order to be able to operate flexibly during Covid-19. It was noted that following the recent announcement by the Government on the timetable for the upcoming removal of the restrictions on licensed premises the Applicant was no longer seeking variation for the modification of condition 20 on the premises licence.
Ms Tricker briefly highlighted the nature of the business and its successes to date. She explained that the premises are situated on the ground floor and basement area, are heavily staffed, and operate a pre-booking system.
She explained that its patrons were mainly females, there were good transport links close to the premises and the variation was an exception to the Cumulative Impact Policy (CIZ) as the hours applied for were for earlier hours of the day rather than later hours which would impact on CIZ. She said that the existing conditions would remain on the premises licence and were robust and promoted the licensing objectives.
Ms Tricker stated that the objection relates to the modification of the condition which is withdrawn and as stated in the objection letter from the Licensing Authority ‘there is no concern to the additional starting times requested by the licence holder’. Therefore, there was no representation against the variation as amended.
Members then heard from Mr Mohshin Ali, Licensing Officer, he explained that the objection was initially in relation to the modification of the condition which had been withdrawn. However, the premises are still within the CIZ and there is some history of complaints in the past. However, visits had been made to the premises, and there were no major concerns.
Mr Ali said that on balance there were no initial concerns with the early hours applied for.
In response to questions the following was noted;
- That management had a good relationship with the local residents.
- Residents had a direct phone number for the manager to report any issues or concerns.
- That there were no concerns relating to earlier hours of operation as the premises already had earlier opening hours.
- That the hours were within the framework hours and the variation proposed was only to allow the retail sale of alcohol to commence at 10.00am rather than 16:30 hours.
Concluding remarks were made by both parties.
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 licensing 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. The Sub Committee had carefully considered all of the evidence before them, including written and verbal representations from the Applicant and his Legal Representative and from the Officer representing the Licensing Authority with particular regard to the prevention of public nuisance.
Members noted that the application to modify an existing condition on the premises licence had been withdrawn and the only variation to consider was the extension of the earlier start time for the sale of alcohol. It was noted that the original objection was in relation to the modification of a condition and there was no concern to the additional start times that had been requested. With that in mind Members were asked to consider the likely impact of additional hours on a premises licence in the Cumulative Impact Zone (CIZ).
Members of the Sub Committee were of the view that on the balance there were no issues of concern for the earlier starting time, and this would be in line with other licensed premises in the area. Members were also satisfied upon questioning the Applicant and his representative, that granting a variation of the premises licence for the nature of business that the Applicant intends and with the conditions in their existing premises licence would not negatively add to the CIZ.
Accordingly, the Sub Committee unanimously;
RESOLVED
That the application for a Variation of the Premises Licence for London Cocktail ClubCommercial Unit 12, 29 Sclater Street London E1 6LB be GRANTED.
Sale of Alcohol (on sales)
Monday to Thursday from 10:00 hours to 00:00
hours (midnight)
Friday to Saturday from 10:00 hours to 01:00 hours (the following
day)
Sunday from 10:00 hours to 00:00 hours (midnight)
Hours premises are open to the public:
Monday
to Thursday from 10:00 hours to 00:30 hours (the following
day)
Friday to Saturday from 10:00 hours to 01:30 hours (the following
day)
Sunday from 10:00 hours to 00:30 hours (the following day)
Supporting documents:
- London Cocktail Club cover report, item 3.1 PDF 267 KB
- London Cocktail Club Appendices Only, item 3.1 PDF 2 MB
- London Cocktail Club - Supporting Docs, item 3.1 PDF 174 KB