At the request of the Chair Mr Ibrahim Hussain, Licensing Officer, introduced the report which detailed the application for a new premises licence for Tower Hamlet’s Pizza, 479 Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 9BU. It was noted that objections had been made by Environmental Health.

The Applicant, Mr Haroon Hamidi, was not in attendance for the meeting. Democratic Services confirmed notification of the meeting had been sent to the Applicant and this had been followed up with phone calls enquiring if they’d be attending physically or virtually for the meeting.

The Sub-Committee then heard from Ms Nicola Cadzow who referred to her objection on page 268 of the agenda. Ms Cadzow said her objection related to the prevention of public nuisance and the concern of noise disturbance to residents in the early hours of the morning. Ms Cadzow requested the sub-committee not to grant the variation of the licence.

Members of the Sub-Committee had no questions for Ms Cadzow.

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;
• The Prevention of Public Nuisance; and
• The Protection of Children from Harm.

Consideration

The Sub-Committee considered an application by Haroon Hamidi to vary the premises licence held in respect of Tower Hamlets Pizza, 479 Cambridge Heath Road, London, E2 (“the Premises”). The current licence permits the provision of late night refreshment from 23:00 hours to 01:00 hours Sunday to Thursday and from 23:00 hours to 02:00 hours on Fridays and Saturdays. The variation sought authorisation to provide late night refreshment to 05:00 hours seven days per week. The application attracted a representation from the Environmental Health Service, which considered that the application risked undermining the licensing objective of the prevention of public nuisance.

The applicant did not appear. The Sub-Committee’s Legal Adviser confirmed with officers that the requisite notices had been sent and the Sub-Committee was advised that the applicant’s son had acknowledged receipt of the hearing notices and confirmed that they would be attending remotely. There had been no other contact from the applicant. The Sub-Committee was given legal advice as to its powers to proceed or to adjourn pursuant to Regulation 20 of the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005. The Sub-Committee determined to proceed.

Ms. Cadzow, Environmental Health Officer, addressed her representation. In essence she was concerned that there was insufficient information to address the potential for public nuisance, particularly in respect of noise and the late hours.

The application made reference to delivery hours but also suggested that people would be eating inside the Premises to 05:00 hours. The absence of the applicant at the hearing meant that the Sub-Committee could not explore how noise from patrons and delivery drivers, for example, could be controlled. There were no conditions offered to explain how noisy patrons would be dealt with. The Sub-Committee considered that a degree of noise nuisance was highly likely given the nature of the Premises and the late hours sought.

The Sub-Committee was therefore not satisfied that its concerns could be dealt with by the imposition of appropriate conditions and the application for variation is therefore refused.

Accordingly, the Sub Committee unanimously;

RESOLVED

That the application for a variation of the premises licence for Tower Hamlets Pizza, 479 Cambridge Heath Road, London, E2 be REFUSED.