Agenda item
Application for a Time Limited Premises Licence for Ican Centres UK Limited, External Yard Area, 33-35 Monier Road, London E3 2PR
Minutes:
At the request of the Chair, Mr Andrew Heron, Licensing Officer, introduced the report which detailed the application for a time limited premises licence for Ican Studios UK Limited, External Yard Area, 33-35 Monier Road, London E3 2PR. It was noted that objections had been made by a local resident, a local business and the Metropolitan Police.
At the request of the Chair, Mr Rhys Rose, Licensing Representative for the Applicant stated this application was for a number of summer events, the showing of World Cup games, church events, community events etc. he explained that they had been in consultation with the Police and believe that they can carry out the events with greater control if a time limited premises was granted.
Mr Philip Kirton, Applicant briefly explained that they had taken a run down warehouse 3 years ago and transformed it into a community hub. He also explained that there was a church project based at the premises which had also transformed over the years. Mr Bishop Malcolm, representing the Church Project explained the nature of the church project, helping people develop skills for employment, offer training and education for members of the local community. He explained that there was a demand to hold events and that the Applicants have demonstrated that they can comply with licence conditions by having a premises licence and successful temporary event notices.
Members were then shown before and after pictures of the warehouse, and were given the schedule of events taking place.
Members then heard from Mr Ali Dhaoma, representing Mr Feldman (Local Business) who explained that there had been several break ins since the premises had been open, and they always seem to be alcohol related as beer cans and bottles are found on the scene. He also expressed concerns of security, safety and public nuisance.
Members then heard from PC Mark Perry, Metropolitan Police who stated that he had worked closely with Ican Centres over the year, he explained they had a premises licence with 70 conditions and then stated that a time limited premises for the outdoor area was not suitable for the area in which the premises was in.
It was noted that the applicants were fairly new and generally did comply with conditions but required a lot of support, as officers have had to constantly go back to speak to them about keeping the noise down and general noise nuisance which has not been managed effectively. PC Perry then went on to give detailed accounts of the visits made at the venue by Police Officers with references to strong smells of drugs at the premises, ID scanners not working, complaints of loud music, people seen to be in the influence of alcohol and drugs, examples of poor management etc.
PC Perry concluded that the there had only been one church event to date and it was a venue primarily for clubbing during the day and night. It was also noted that no details of the types of events that were going to be taking place were given to the Police.
In response to questions the following was noted;
· That the capacity inside the premises was 1500 and 800 outside in the external yard.
· That over £15,000 had been spent on security, street marshals, CCTV cameras, ID Scanners,
· That there was a drugs policy in force and if any drugs were found on customer they were detained and refused entry and all drugs were handed over to the police
· The applicants questioned why there had been no reports of break ins and crimes and disorder reported to the police
· That there were concerns that the ID scanner on a number of occasions was either not working or switched off. It was noted that there had often been technical problems with the scanner but these had now been rectified.
· That there had been a number of noise complaints reported to Environmental Health.
In summing up, PC Mark Perry stated that an outdoor licence was not suitable for this premises and would cause grave concerns, there would be a likely increase in complaints, and alcohol abuse causing risks to residents. He stated that the premises held daytime and night time raves, with people drinking and dancing for 12-13 hours continuously and then causing disorder when leaving the premise. He urged members to reject the application.
Mr Rose stated that there had been a series of successful events this year, covered by temporary event notices and that the applicants had offered up extra conditions to manage and control the premises and they were confident that they would be able to cope with a time limited premises for the summer period.
Members retired to consider their decision at 3.35pm and reconvened at 3.55pm.
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 Licensing Guidance and the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy.
Consideration
Each application must be considered on its own merits and the Chair stated that the Sub Committee had carefully considered all of the evidence before them and had taken account of the evidence submitted by both the objectors and the applicants.
Members noted the grave concerns of public nuisance and crime and disorder. Members also noted the issues of ID scanners not working properly, and evidence of drugs being found at the premises.
Before refusing a licence outright, Members had to consider whether conditions could be placed on the licence which could address such concerns. Members also took into account that the Police and Environmental Health had worked closely with the applicants over a long period or time and that there had been improvements, however, there were serious concerns and complaints and Members were satisfied that granting of the licence would lead to an increase in public nuisance and crime and disorder and that there were no conditions that could be added to alleviate these concerns and promote the licensing objectives.
Decision
Accordingly, the Sub-Committee unanimously –
RESOLVED
That the application for a Time Limited Premises Licence for Ican Centres UK Ltd, External Yard Area, 33-35 Monier Road, London E3 2PR be REFUSED.
Supporting documents:
- Ican Studios TLP cover report, item 3.2 PDF 99 KB
- Ican Studios TLP Appendices Only, item 3.2 PDF 11 MB
- Restricted enclosure View the reasons why document 3.2/3 is restricted