Agenda item
Licensing Act 2003 Application for a Premises Licence for (The Hungry Tummy) 24a Wentworth Street, London E1 7TF
Minutes:
At the request of the Chair, Ms Liliana Martins, the Applicant’s friend explained the restaurant covered a small square footage, with 10 covers inside and 4 outside. She said at the time the application was submitted by Mr Zoltan Posztor he did not fully appreciate the detail required for the application. Ms Martins explained English was not Mr Posztor’s first language and he hadn’t grasped the requirements of the Cumulative Impact Zone. She explained the café was a small canteen/deli-type premises serving Hungarian snacks and alcohol. She referred to the written submission appended in supplement 4 and said Mr Posztor would comply with the licensing objectives. She said in view of the objections the Applicant was looking to reduce the time for the sale of alcohol and would not be opening on a Sunday. Ms Martins said whilst the premises was in the cumulative impact zone it was in the ‘yellow’ coloured zone and not in the ‘red’ zone. She said the music played would be background music which would not disturb neighbours.
Ms Lavine-Miller, Licensing Officer then addressed the Sub-Committee. She referred members to her representation on page 67 of the agenda and said the Licensing Authority were concerned with the lack of evidence in the application to show how Mr Posztor would comply with the Licensing objectives particularly as the premises is in the Cumulative Impact Zone. She said it was unclear if the sale of alcohol would be with food or if vertical drinking would also be allowed. She said there was a risk of the premises becoming a bar and said that if the sub-committee were minded to grant the application then the conditions set out pages 71-72 should be considered by the members.
Mr Yale Sherlock, from the Environmental Protection team added they were concerned about noise emanating from the premises and disturbing the neighbours and the number of people entering and egressing the premises for smoking. Mr Sherlock said if the Sub-Committee were minded to grant the application then the conditions set out on pages 74-75 should be considered by members.
In response to questions the following was noted:
- The music played would be background music to disguise kitchen noise and would not be audible to neighbours so as to cause a disturbance.
- The capacity of the premises is very small with ten people inside and four outside. The seating area outside allows for people to eat and converse with each other.
- With respect to footfall, large numbers of people were not expected, as the premises is serving specialised Hungarian food. The food serving is snack food, for example Hungarian sausage with chips and not a complete meal.
- Authorisation for late-night refreshment was not required due to the operating hours.
- The Applicant is aware and understands the CIZ and how this is applied.
- There is signage in the premises and at the door, asking patron to be respectful of neighbours.
Concluding remarks were made by all 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 licencing 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 The Hungry Tummy Ltd, for a new premises licence to be held in respect of The Hungry Tummy, 24a Wentworth Street, London, E1 7TF (“the Premises”). The application originally sought authorisation for the sale by retail of alcohol for consumption on and off the Premises and for the provision of recorded music from 10:00 hours to 22:00 hours Monday to Saturday and from 10:00 hours to 18:00 hours on Sunday. These were also the opening hours.
Six representations against the representation were received. These were from the Licensing Authority, the Environmental Protection Service, SPIRE, and three residents. The objections were based on the fact that the Premises were located in the Brick Lane CIZ and that the applicant had failed to demonstrate that they would not add to the overall impact of licensed premises in the area. The residents made specific reference to the fact that they thought this application would lead to more intoxicated people in the area and thus more anti-social behaviour such as public urination and broken bottles in the street.
Conditions had been agreed with the Police. Supporting information from the applicant stated that they were willing to reduce the hours sought for the sale of alcohol. Although no specific time was stated, the time of 20:00 or 21:00 hours was indicated.
Liliana Martins addressed the Sub-Committee on behalf of the applicant. She confirmed that recorded music was to be withdrawn as this was in fact deregulated and no longer licensable in the circumstances of this application. The Premises were very small, with a maximum of ten covers inside and four outside. The applicant was willing to limit the number of patrons smoking outside the Premises to five at any one time. The Sub-Committee were also told that the Premises would not be opening on a Sunday. The food offering was more of a snack/deli-type offering rather than a table meal. The Premises was a Hungarian food business and that they were catering for a niche clientele. The operators themselves lived in the area.
Ms. Martins also stated that she was aware of the CIZ and that where the Premises were located was within a “yellow” area on the CIZ hotspot map. She stated that there was no reason to think the Premises would impact on the CIZ. There was only one other licensed premises in the street.
Ms. Miller-Johnson addressed the Sub-Committee as to her representation. She was concerned that the applicant had initially failed to address the CIZ and of the possibility that the Premises could become a bar in the future. She asked the Sub-Committee to consider imposing the conditions suggested in her representation, if Members were minded to grant the application. She noted that there were no toilets in the Premises and queried what facilities patrons would use if the public toilets across the road were out of order.
Mr. Sherlock addressed the Sub-Committee on behalf of Environmental Protection and expressed concern about the risk of possible noise disturbance. He also suggested that if the Sub-Committee were minded to grant the application, consideration should be given to imposing their suggested conditions.
None of the other persons making representations attended the hearing. Their representations were, however, considered and taken into account.
The Premises were very modest in size and scope. Moreover, the reduction in hours offered up by the applicant meant that there was much less risk of adverse impact on the licensing objectives and that any such impact would be mitigated by the agreed conditions and additional conditions. The size of the Premises, the fact that they were within framework hours, and that they were not alcohol-led, justified an exception to the CIZ policy.
The Committee determined that it was appropriate and proportionate to impose the conditions suggested by the Licensing Authority, save for proposed condition 6 which required all alcohol sales to be with a table meal, given that the applicant was not operating as a restaurant. Similarly, the Sub-Committee determined to impose proposed conditions 2 and 3 from the Environmental Protection Service. Condition 1, restricting the use of loudspeakers was not imposed; the applicant did not seek regulated entertainment, there was no suggestion that they would or intended to place loudspeakers in any external area or on the street and, in the event that they did so, there were other statutory controls in place to address that.
The Sub-Committee did, however, consider it appropriate and proportionate to impose a further condition. No “drinking-up time” had been proposed in the application and the Sub-Committee was concerned to ensure that patrons could not purchase large amounts of alcohol for consumption at the terminal hour and then consume the purchases until closing time. A condition requiring all consumption of alcohol within the premises and in the outside area to cease thirty minutes after the terminal hour would address that concern and help to ensure that patrons leaving the Premises at or near closing time would not be intoxicated. It would also assist to mitigate any impact on the CIZ.
Accordingly, the Sub Committee unanimously;
RESOLVED
That the application for a new premises licence for (Hungry Tummy) 24a Wentworth Street, London E1 7FT be GRANTED subject to the following hours and conditions:
Sale by retail of alcohol (for consumption on and off the premises)
Monday to Thursday 10:00 hours to 20:00 hours
Friday and Saturday 10:00 hours to 21:00 hours
Opening hours
Monday to Saturday 10:00 hours to 22:00 hours
Conditions
- 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.
- An incident log shall be kept at the premises and be available on request to the Police or an authorised officer. It must be completed within 24 hours of any incident and will record the following:
a) all crimes reported to the venue;
b) all ejections of patrons;
c) any complaints received concerning crime and disorder;
d) any incidents of disorder;
e) any faults in the CCTV system, searching equipment or scanning equipment;
f) any refusal of the sale of alcohol;
g) any visit by a relevant authority or emergency service.
- 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.
- 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 copies of recent CCTV images or data with the absolute minimum of delay when requested.
- 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 shall be available on request by the Police or any authorised officer.
- 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.
- There shall be no vertical drinking at the premises.
- Customers shall not be permitted to take alcohol beyond the boundary of the outside seated area, save for those alcoholic beverages in a sealed container for the purpose of takeaway.
- Patrons permitted to temporarily leave and then re-enter the premises, e.g. to smoke, shall be limited to 5 persons at any one time.
- 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.
- Patrons shall not be permitted to consume alcohol inside the premises or in the outside seated area more than thirty minutes after the terminal hour for the sale of alcohol.
Supporting documents:
- WentworthSt24a, item 3.1 PDF 504 KB
- WentworthSt24a.App.REDnew_pdfa, item 3.1 PDF 9 MB
- Add Info - Hungry Tunmy, item 3.1 PDF 24 MB