At the request of the Chair, Ms Lavine Miller-Johnson, Licensing Officer introduced the report which detailed an application by Bocca Bocca Ltd. for a new premises licence to be held in respect of Rotunda Café, Island Gardens, Saunders Ness Road, London, E14 3EA (“the Premises”). The application originally sought authorisation for the sale by retail of alcohol for consumption on and off the premises from 08:00 hours to 23:00 hours seven days per week. The application attracted representations against it from two local residents on the basis of all four licensing objectives.

The Sub-Committee was informed in advance that the proposed hours for licensable activity had been reduced following agreement with the police to 08:00 hours to 17:00 hours. A number of conditions had also been agreed between the applicant and the responsible authorities prior to the meeting.

At the request of the Chair, Mr. Gianluca Colini addressed the Sub-Committee by explaining that he was surprised by the objections and that the intention was simply to allow for people to enjoy a glass of wine or a beer with their meals. He confirmed that alcohol would be kept behind the counter at all times.

Members then heard from one of the objectors who had made a representation, Mr. Ralph Hardwick. He expressed concerns about whether the outside area was part of the lease and whether or not the lease prohibited the sale of alcohol as a coffee house was not a venue where one usually expected alcohol to be sold. He had no issue with on-sales; but he was concerned more with the off-sales. He explained that children from the nearby school and college used the park in their break times and therefore could potentially give rise to public nuisance.

Mr. Hardwick also asserted that the application risked conflict with the Council’s borough-wide Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) which prohibited anti-social drinking.

The Legal Adviser clarified that whether or not the lease included the outside area or allowed for the sale of alcohol was not a relevant consideration for the Sub-Committee. If the lease did not permit the sale of alcohol, that was a matter between the landlord and the tenant under the lease. The PSPO did not prohibit drinking in public spaces; it required people to surrender alcohol when asked to do so and prohibited them from continuing to drink after being asked not to do so.

In response to questions the following was noted;

-       That it was made clear that off-sales were sought in order to be able to make use of the outside area, which was not part of the licensed premises.

-       The applicant confirmed that he was willing for off-sales to be limited to consumption within the external area only.

-       The applicant also confirmed that he was willing to place signage to inform customers that alcohol was not to be taken away from the premises and external area.

-       Mr. Hardwick confirmed that he was not opposed to the application entirely nor was he concerned particularly about off-sales for the external area.

-       Mr Hardwick explained that his concerns were very much focused on the possible impact on the licensing objectives and questioned if people were permitted to buy alcohol for consumption off the premises that could then be consumed elsewhere in the park.

Concluding remarks were made by both parties.

Decisions

The Sub-Committee considered that this application really engaged the licensing objective of the prevention of public nuisance and, to a lesser extent, the prevention of crime and disorder. One representation had suggested that allowing alcohol to be consumed risked people becoming intoxicated and falling into the water and drowning. The Sub-Committee was aware that many licensed premises are located near waterways and do not give rise to public safety issues. There was nothing here to take it out of the ordinary. Similarly, conditions to prevent under-age drinking were agreed by the applicant and the fact that children used the park was not a ground to refuse the application. It was suggested that they would be exposed to inappropriate behaviour. However, this did not take account of the fact that people could inevitably walk into the park in possession of alcohol purchased elsewhere and consume it. The likelihood of the Premises’ proposed operation impacting on this licensing objective was adequately mitigated by way of conditions.

With respect to crime and disorder, conditions had been agreed with the police which addressed these. There was no evidence to suggest that the likely effect of granting this application would be to add to crime and disorder. The conditions agreed were sufficient to mitigate any impact.

With respect to public nuisance, the Sub-Committee did consider there was a greater risk of impact on this licensing objective as the application originally stood. However, the applicant had reduced the hours so that alcohol sales would cease at 17:00 hours. They had agreed numerous conditions both before the hearing and during the course of it, the impact of which was to mitigate any impact on the licensing objectives. In particular, the clarification around off-sales combined with the relatively small number of covers gave the Sub-Committee that the application could be granted without adversely affecting the licensing objectives. The Sub-Committee did consider it important to limit the number of patrons using the external area at any one time, so as to minimise the risk of public nuisance and limited it to the number that the applicant said would currently be accommodated in that area.

Accordingly, the Sub Committee unanimously;

RESOLVED

That the application for a new premises licence for Rotunda Café, Island Gardens, Saunders Nest Road, London E14 3EA be GRANTED subject to the following conditions:

Sale by retail of alcohol

Monday to Sunday             08:00 hours to 17:00 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 copies of recent CCTV images or data with the absolute minimum of delay when requested.

3.    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)     all seizures of drugs or offensive weapons;

f)        any faults in the CCTV system, searching equipment or scanning equipment;

g)     any visit by a relevant authority or emergency service.

4.    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.

5.    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 must show the outcome of the person who was intoxicated. 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.

6.    The supply of alcohol at the premises shall only be to a person seated taking a table meal there and for consumption by such a person as ancillary to their meal.

7.    The sales of alcohol on the premises and in the external seating shall be by waiter / waitress service only.

8.    There shall be no sales of alcohol for consumption off the premises, save to those customers seated directly outside of the premises in the external  area, where tables and chairs have been provided by the premises.

9.    There shall be no vertical drinking inside the premises or in the external seating area.

10.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.

11.Loudspeakers shall not be in the entrance lobby, or outside the premise building nor on ceilings. And anti-vibration mounts used is speakers attached to the walls.

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.

13.No noise shall emanate from the premises nor vibration be transmitted through the structure of the premises, which gives rise to a public nuisance.

14.The use of the external seating area shall be limited to not more than 25 patrons at any given time.

15.Signage shall be displayed inside the premises and at the external seating area reminding customers that alcohol is not to be taken beyond the vicinity of the external seating area.

16.The external seating area shall not be used for the consumption of alcohol until such time as a plan has been submitted to the licensing authority showing the location and extent of the area to be used.