Agenda item
Application for a New Premises Licence for Kahalia, 135 Brick Lane, London E1 6SB
Minutes:
At the request of the Chair, Mr Mohshin Ali, Licensing Officer, introduced the report which detailed the application for a new premises licence for Kahaila, 135 Brick Lane, London E1 6SB. It was noted that objections had been received from the Licensing Authority and Environmental Health. Mr Ali highlighted the fact that the Applicant had been in touch and wanted to change the nature of the application to sale of alcohol in general, not limited to mulled wine and Baileys hot chocolate during the winter months as stated in the original application.
At this juncture, the Chair sought legal advice on this matter and asked the Applicant if he wished to withdraw his application and put in a new application with the change requested, or proceed tonight with the application as originally drawn up, with the option of submitting a further application to cover the sale of alcohol in general after any grant of the application as drawn up. The reason for this was that the applicant now sought verbally to change fundamentally the nature and scope of what had been sought in the application as originally submitted.
Mr Paul Unsworth, Applicant confirmed that he wished to carry on with the application as it stood, and would consider a variation application in future if the application were to be granted.
At the request of the Chair, Mr Unsworth gave a brief history of the premises and explained that there was no intention of turning this premises into a bar. It was a café, which helped ex-offenders to rehabilitate and work in a café, learning new skills such as baking and cooking. It was noted that all proceeds from the café were reinvested into community development and upskilling people.
Mr Unsworth clarified that the purpose of the application was to enable an increase in income during the winter months to help increase the profit earned to help the community. Mr Unsworth was aware that the premises was in the CIZ (Cumulative Impact Zone), and believed that the application as drawn, addressed the concerns of the premises being in the CIZ, hence he believed that the application by its nature would not add to the cumulative impact on the area, especially with the additional effect of conditions, both those offered by the Applicant and those put forward by the responsible authorities with which the Applicant was happy to agree, except for condition 7 proposed by the Licensing Authority for the sale of alcohol to be ancillary to a meal, which Mr Unsworth considered unnecessary where provision for only the sale of mulled wine and Baileys hot chocolate was sought.
Members then heard from Ms Lavine Miller-Johnson, Licensing Officer, who referred to her representations on pages 163-167 of the agenda. She said that the application as drawn sought to enable the sale of only mulled wine and Baileys hot chocolate during the winter months, so her representations were limited only to addressing that, not the sale of alcohol generally. She said that the premises remained in the CIZ and that the application. if granted, would lead to an additional set of licensed premises in a saturated area, adding to the cumulative impact in the area.
Ms Nicola Cadzow, Environmental Health Officer, referred to her representations on page 169 of the agenda and stated that the premises were in the cumulative impact zone. She was aware that the premises would operate within the Council’s framework hours, but raised concerns about the impact upon the area with customers accessing and egressing the premises. She also believed that there would be a great likelihood of disturbance to residential premises during the hours sought, and there was insufficient information in the operating schedule as to how the applicant proposed to prevent public nuisance.
In response to questions, the following was noted;
- That the Applicant was agreeable to allow drinking up time and stopping serving alcohol half an hour before closing.
- That the general sale of alcohol may attribute to the cumulative impact area.
- That the premises had the capacity for 60 people, and was a café style operation selling sandwiches, and snacks. It would remain as a café.
- The Applicant was happy to have a condition that no vertical drinking is to be allowed.
- In order to reduce noise nuisance, notices would be displayed asking customers to leave quietly, there would be no more than 5 customers allowed to smoke at any one time, and there would be no loud music.
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;
- The Prevention of Public Nuisance; and
- The Protection of Children from Harm.
Consideration
Each application must be considered on its own merits. The Chair confirmed that the Sub-Committee had carefully considered all the evidence before them and heard oral representation at the meeting by the Applicant and from the Environmental Health Officer and Licensing Officer objecting to the application.
The Sub-Committee noted that the Applicant was seeking a new premises licence for the sale of alcohol, specifically stating that it would not be selling spirits but only offering mulled wine and Baileys hot chocolate during the Winter months. This was expressed in the application as the main reason for the application and also as a mitigation of any cumulative impact which might arise from having one more set of licensed premises in the cumulative impact zone. During the course of the meeting, it was noted that the Applicant wanted to change the application, and seek an application for general sale of alcohol throughout the year, no longer wanting to restrict it to mulled wine and Baileys hot chocolate during the Winter months.
The Sub-Committee took into account that following legal advice received by the Sub-Committee, the Chair informed the Applicant that the above presented a fundamental change to the nature of the application, and that the Chair had therefore offered the Applicant the choice of either withdrawing the application and coming back with a new application, or continuing with the application as originally set out in the report with the option that if granted, the applicant could subsequently submit an application to vary the licence to include any wider provision of alcohol sought by the Applicant. The Sub-Committee heard from the Applicant that he wished to continue with the application as set out in the report.
The Sub-Committee noted the concerns of objectors, whose primary concerns were that the additional licensed premises in the Brick Lane Cumulative Impact Zone would likely lead to noise nuisance arising from customers frequenting the premises.
The Sub-Committee noted the representations from Environmental Health regarding the impact of the premises in the Brick Lane Cumulative Impact Zone (CIZ) and in particular, the concerns relating to an additional set of licensed premises in a CIZ. However, the Sub-Committee also noted the applicant’s representation that the impact of the premises licence if granted, would be mitigated by the proposed conditions put forward by the applicant and those accepted by the applicant, such as not allowing vertical drinking. It was also noted from the representations made by the Applicant that the premises was a charity and community led coffee shop wanting to add sale of alcohol to increase profit and for those proceeds to go back into the community, so from that evidence not alcohol led, with hours well within the framework hours.
The Sub-Committee was therefore satisfied that there would be no addition to the cumulative impact in the area and the conditions proposed would alleviate concerns about noise nuisance.
The Sub-Committee was satisfied that the licensing objectives would be upheld, and that the conditions imposed in relation to a non-alcohol led business would effectively mitigate the risk of public nuisance and help alleviate any concerns raised by the Responsible Authorities.
Therefore, Members made a decision and the decision was unanimous. Members granted the application with conditions.
Accordingly, the Sub Committee unanimously;
RESOLVED
That the application for a new Premises Licence for Kahalia, 135 Brick Lane, London E1 6SB be GRANTED with conditions.
Sale of Alcohol (On Sales only)
Monday to Sunday from 09:00 hours to 18:30 hours
Opening Hours
Monday to Sunday from 09:00 hours to 19:00 hours
Conditions
1. The premises shall install and maintain a comprehensive CCTV system as per the minimum requirements of the Tower Hamlets Police Licensing Team. All entry and exit points will be covered enabling frontal identification of every person entering in any light condition. The CCTV system shall continually record whilst the premises is open for licensable activities and during all times when customers remain on the premises. All recordings shall be stored for a minimum period of 31 days with date and time stamping. Viewing of recordings shall be made available immediately upon the request of Police or authorised officer throughout the entire 31 day period.
2. A staff member from the premises who is conversant with the operation of the CCTV system shall be on the premises at all times when the premises are open. This staff member must be able to provide a Police or authorised council officer with copies of recent CCTV images or data with the absolute minimum of delay when requested.
3. When the designated premises supervisor is not on the premises, any or all persons authorised to sell alcohol will be authorised by the designated premises supervisor in writing. This authorisation shall be made available on request by the Police or any authorised officer.
4. No vertical drinking on the premises shall be permitted.
5. No beers or spirits shall be permitted. No alcohol shall be suppliedsave for mulled wine, and Baileys blended with hot drinks only.
6. Loudspeakers shall not be located in the entrance lobby or outside the premises building.
7. A Challenge 25 proof of age scheme shall be operated at the premises where the only acceptable forms of identification are recognised photographic identification cards, such as a driving licence, passport or proof of age card with the PASS Hologram.
8. A record shall be kept detailing all refused sales of alcohol. The record should include the date and time of the refused sale and the name of the member of staff who refused the sale. The record shall be available for inspection at the premises by the police or an authorised officer at all times whilst the premises is open.
9. A direct telephone number for the manager at the premises shall be publicly available at all times the premises is open. This telephone number is to be made available to residents and businesses in the vicinity.
10.Patrons permitted to leave temporarily leave and then re-enter the premises e.g. to smoke, shall be limited to 5 persons at any one time.
11.No noise generated on the premises, or by its associated plant or equipment, shall emanate from the premises nor vibration be transmitted through the structure of the premises which gives rise to a public nuisance.
12. Notices shall be prominently displayed at all exits requesting patrons to respect the needs of local residents and businesses and leave the area quietly.
Supporting documents: