Agenda item

Ward CIA* SCZ**	Site Name & Address	Application Type	Licensing Reference No.
West End West End* None**	Sophisticats, Basement and Part Ground Floor, 3-7 Brewer, London, W1F 0RD	New Premises Licence	21/06392/LIPN
*Cumulative Impact Area ** Special Consideration Zone

 

WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE NO. 5 (“The Committee”)

 

Thursday 16 September 2021

 

Membership:       Councillor Murad Gassanly (Chairman), Councillor Heather Acton and Councillor Rita Begum

 

Officer Support:       Legal Advisor:         Viviene Walker  

                                Policy Officer:          Kerry Simpkin

                                Committee Officer:  Sarah Craddock  

                                Presenting Officer:  Kevin Jackaman  

 

Application for a New Premises Licence in respect of Sophisticats Basement and Part Ground Floor 3-7 Brewer Street London W1F 0RD – 21/06392/LIPN

 

FULL DECISION

 

Premises

 

Sophisticats Basement and Part Ground Floor, 3-7 Brewer Street, London W1F 0RD

 

Applicant

 

John McKeown Clubs Limited

 

Cumulative Impact Area?

 

West End

 

Special Consideration Zone

 

N/A

 

Ward

 

West End Ward

 

Summary of Application

 

This is an application for a New Premises Licence under the Licensing Act 2003 (“The Act”). The premises currently operate as a strip/lap dancing club. On 8th October 2020 the Premises were permitted to operate on a temporary basis until 30 September 2021 as a bar due to the restrictions imposed on Sexual Entertainment Venue and Night Club operations under the COVID-19 Regulations.

 

The Premises are located within the West End and the West End Cumulative Zone, but not within the Special Consideration Zone. The Premises have the benefit of two Premises Licences. The current licence number is 20/06824/LIPN. The Premises also hold a Sexual Entertainment Venue Licence which is valid until 30 September 2021. There is a resident count of 266.

 

 

Activities and Hours applied for

 

Live Music (Indoors)

 

Monday to Saturday 09:00 to 03:00 hours

Sunday 09:00 to 23:00 hours

 

Seasonal Variations: All licensable activities may be extended from the end of permitted hours on New Year’s Eve to the start of permitted hours on New Year’s Day with an additional hour when British Summer Time commences.

 

Recorded Music (Indoors)

 

Monday to Saturday 09:00 to 03:00 hours

Sunday 09:00 to 23:00 hours

 

Seasonal Variations: All licensable activities may be extended from the end of permitted hours on New Year’s Eve to the start of permitted hours on New Year’s Day with an additional hour when British Summer Time commences.

 

Performance of Dance (Indoors)

 

Monday to Saturday 09:00 to 03:00 hours

Sunday 09:00 to 23:00 hours

 

Seasonal Variations: All licensable activities may be extended from the end of permitted hours on New Year’s Eve to the start of permitted hours on New Year’s Day with an additional hour when British Summer Time commences.

 

Anything of a similar description to Live Music, Recorded Music or Performance of Dance (Indoors)

 

Monday to Saturday 09:00 to 03:00 hours

Sunday 09:00 to 23:00 hours

 

Seasonal Variations: All licensable activities may be extended from the end of permitted hours on New Year’s Eve to the start of permitted hours on New Year’s Day with an additional hour when British Summer Time commences.

 

Late Night Refreshment (Indoors)

 

Monday to Saturday 23:00 to 03:00 hours

 

Seasonal Variations: All licensable activities may be extended from the end of permitted hours on New Year’s Eve to the start of permitted hours on New Year’s Day with an additional hour when British Summer Time commences.

 

Sale by Retail of Alcohol (Indoors)

 

Monday to Saturday 09:00 to 03:00 hours

Sunday 09:00 to 23:00 hours

 

Seasonal Variations: All licensable activities may be extended from the end of permitted hours on New Year’s Eve to the start of permitted hours on New Year’s Day with an additional hour when British Summer Time commences.

 

Opening Hours of the Premises

 

Monday to Saturday 09:00 to 03:00 hours

Sunday 09:00 to 23:00 hours

 

Seasonal Variations: All licensable activities may be extended from the end of permitted hours on New Year’s Eve to the start of permitted hours on New Year’s Day with an additional hour when British Summer Time commences.

 

Representations Received

 

• Licensing Authority (Jessica Donovan)
• Environmental Health Service (Anil Drayan) (withdrawn)

 

Summary of issues raised by objectors

 

·       Licensing Authority objected to this application and how the Premises would promote the four Licensing Objectives. The Licensing Authority require the applicant to provide submissions as to how the operation of the premises will not add to cumulative impact in the West End cumulative impact Zone, in accordance with policy CIP1.

 

Policy Position

 

Under Policy HRS1, applications for hours outside the core hours set out in Clause C

will be considered on their merits, subject to other relevant policies, and with particular regard to the matters set out in Policy HRS1.

 

Under Policy CIP1 it is the Licensing Authority’s policy to refuse applications within the West End Cumulative Impact Zone for: pubs and bars, fast food premises, and music and dancing and similar entertainment, other than applications to: 1. Vary the hours within Core Hours under Policy HRS1, and/or 2. Vary the licence to reduce the overall capacity of the premises. Applications for other premises types within the West End Cumulative Impact Zones will be subject to other policies within this statement and must demonstrate that they will not add to cumulative impact.

 

 

DECISION AND REASONS

 

Mr Kevin Jackaman, Senior Licensing Officer, presented the report before the Sub-Committee. He advised that this was an application for a New Premises Licence in respect of Basement and Part Ground Floor, 3-7 Brewer Street W1F 0RD and the Applicant was seeking the provision of Sale of retail of Alcohol (on the Premises) and Regulated Entertainment and Late Night Refreshment until 3:00am Monday to Saturday and the Sale of retail of Alcohol (on the Premises) and Regulated Entertainment until 23:00 on Sundays. He advised that representations had been received from the Licensing Authority and the Environmental Health Service. The Licensing Authority had maintained their representation however after further consultation with the Applicant the Environmental Health Service withdraw their representation on the 4 August. The Applicant had applied for a Premises capacity of 40, excluding staff, and licensable activities authorising the sale of alcohol (on the Premises) between 11:00 to 22:30 Monday to Sunday. He further advised that additional submissions had been received from the Licensing Authority which had been circulated to all the relevant parties before the Sub-Committee hearing.

Mr Michael Bromley-Martin, counsel on behalf of the applicant, addressed the Sub-Committee and introduced the application and provided an overview of the style of the operation proposed. The Sub-Committee were advised that this application was to replace two existing Premises Licences: the permanent Sexual Entertainment Premises Licence and the time limited Premises Licence that ends on the 30 September 2021.

Mr Bromley-Martin explained that the Premises were able to reopen after the first lockdown in October 2020 and then again after the second lockdown in March 2021 with the granting of the time limited Premises Licence. He explained that the Applicant had found that operating the Premises under the time limited Premises Licence, due to the restrictions on operating as a sexual entertainment venue, had been highly successful and had appealed to a wider clientele as the Premises now offered a full range of entertainment such as comedy shows. The Applicant wished to continue to operate the Premises in this way however the difficulty was that the permanent licence had a condition attached to it (condition 9) which limited its operation in that ‘the sale of intoxicating liquor shall be ancillary to the provision of striptease entertainment and whilst the premises are operating under a Sexual Entertainment Venue Licence’.

Mr Bromley-Martin stated that the Applicant would like this condition removed from the new Premises Licence and be replaced with similar wording such as condition 42 of the time limited Premises Licence which states that ‘the sale of alcohol shall be ancillary to and whilst the premises are operating as either: a) a lounge bar providing live music and/or dance performances, with alcohol consumed only by persons seated; b) a restaurant where alcohol is sold ancillary to a table meal. He advised that he wished the words ‘sexual entertainment, burlesque and comedy to be added to this condition after the wording ‘or dance performances’ and explained that he considered there had been a small misunderstanding in that this application should be considered under all three of the Council’s policies and not just MD1(B) and RTN1 as the Premises will not just be operating as a lounge bar but as lounge bar which will be providing sexual entertainment, Burlesque and comedy.

Mr Bromley-Martin noted that in order for the licence to be granted today the Applicant must show the Sub-Committee that there are exceptional circumstances to do so as he did last October when they granted him the time limited Premises Licence application.

In response to questions from the Sub-Committee, Mr Bromley-Martin advised that the exceptional circumstances were the same as the ones put forward in October 2020 in that the application was a direct result of Covid-19 which was still having an impact on the ability to run a sexual entertainment venue only. In addition, the Premises already had an existing Premises Licence and the exceptional circumstances in this instance was the replacement of the existing licence with a similar licence with added conditions but excluding condition 9 of the present licence. The Chairman then clarified that the time limited Premises Licence had been granted in October 2020 due to the Pandemic providing the exceptional circumstances to policy. Mr Bromley-Martin confirmed that sexual entertainment would continue to remain on the licence however the Premises would not just be a sexual entertainment venue but would be allowed to offer a combination of regulated entertainment such as live music, comedy and burlesque which will appeal to a wider range of clientele.

Mr Bromley-Martin explained that the new Premises Licence would not add to the cumulative impact zone as the Premises already had an existing licence and would provide an additional cultural venue to a much wider audience but also with additional conditions which are beneficial to the licencing objectives and in respect of the existing licence which it merely replaces. He advised that the time limited Premises Licence had been in operation for nearly a year without complaint or difficulties occurring in the area and it was important for the Sub-Committee to note that the Applicant had agreed to the sale of alcohol remaining ancillary to entertainment to show the difference between a lounge bar with no entertainment. The new Premises licence attracts a different type of clientele which will not have an impact the cumulative impact of the West End area.

Mr Bromley-Martin advised that all clientele needed to remain seated whilst consuming alcohol and the new licence would be much more similar to the operation of a sexual entertainment venue than a simple bar or lounge bar as envisaged by policy PB1. He emphasised this was not a vertical drinking establishment and would not impact the cumulative impact zone going forward as it hadn’t done in the past year whilst operating under the time limited licence.

Mr Bromley-Martin advised that the application should be granted if the Applicant could show exceptional circumstances as stated in the Council’s Policy PB1 and again emphasised condition 51 that would be attached to the licence if the application was granted which stated that alcohol would only be ancillary to regulated entertainment. Ticket sales for shows and if necessary, this could be added as a condition to the licence.

In response to the question from the Sub-Committee, Mr Bromley-Martin outlined the exceptional circumstance of this application as follows:

a) It is an application for a replacement for an existing permanent licence with the removal of the sexual entertainment venue (condition 9)

b) The proposed additional conditions 50 and 51 will be added to the Premises Licence which are beneficial and promote the four licensing objectives.

c) This application is an extension of an existing time limited licence allowing the same licensable activities but with no requirement to provide sexual entertainment.

d) There would be no additional impact within the cumulative impact zone and that is evidenced by the operation of the Premises since last October.

e) There are no objections to the grant of this licence from the Soho Society or local residents which is significant.

f) This application is in accordance with policy C1 and P1 and the encouragement of cultural events/venues within the West End and all patrons are seated.

 

Ms Karyn Abbott, representing the Licensing Authority, advised that the Licensing Service had maintained their representation due to the location of the Premises in the West End Community Impact area, the uncertainty of the operation of the Premises and that the Premises were changing from a sexual entertainment venue to one unlike a bar. The Sub-Committee noted that the changing the operation of the Premises would bring a whole different group of clientele to the Premises and the operation would be advertised differently which could attract more people to the venue which raises concerns for the licensing authority due to the potential impact on the West End Community Impact area. Ms Abbott advised that it would have been helpful to have been given the proposed changes to condition 51 before the hearing to the Licensing Authority could have considered this appropriately however the Policy clearly states that the Applicant needs to demonstrate exceptional circumstances to the Sub-Committee and the Licensing Authority still has concerns as to how the Applicant intends to operate under this condition 51 due to the different styles of operation outlined in this proposed condition.

Ms Abbott referred to the Licensing Authority’s additional submissions and advised that particular concern was regarding whether the lounge bar element would be the predominant operating style. Ms Abbott then advised that the Premises current licence was granted due to the exceptional circumstances of the Pandemic and because sexual entertainment venues were unable to operate during this time. It was on this basis that the licence was granted and as Covid restrictions have now been lifted these circumstances do not longer exist. Sexual entertainment venues are now permitted to operate and it is the Licensing Authority’s submission that the Applicant has not provided sufficient evidence to depart from the Council’s policy due to the uncertainty of the operation of the Premises. Therefore, the Sub-Committee should refuse the application as proposed unless they are generally satisfied that the Applicant has proposed exceptional circumstances within their submissions.

Conclusion

The Committee has a duty to consider the application on its individual merits and took into account all the committee papers, submissions made by the Applicant and the oral evidence given by all parties during the hearing in its determination of the application.

The Committee noted the representations received from the Licensing Authority. The thrust of the Licensing Authority’s objections cited are the uncertainty as to how the Applicant will operate the premises. It was noted that during the hearing, the Applicant made an amendment to condition 51, this provided the sale of alcohol to be ancillary to sexual entertainment, burlesque and comedy.

The Premises intend to provide regulated entertainment and the supply of alcohol. The Premises are within both the West End Ward and West End Cumulative Impact Zone. The Special Consideration Zone does not apply.

It was accepted by the applicant and the Licensing Authority that Policy PB1 would apply and therefore it is the Licensing Authority’s policy to refuse applications within the West End Cumulative Impact Zone other than: (1) applications to vary the existing licence hours within the Council’s Core Hours Policy HRS1; (2) Applications that seek to vary the existing licence so as to reduce the overall capacity of the premises. Given that this application was for neither of these, the Applicant had to demonstrate exceptional circumstances in order for the licence to be granted.

The Committee, however, was not persuaded by the Applicant that an exception to Policy had been proven and that the application would not add to negative cumulative impact in the West End Cumulative Impact Zone leading to the undermining of the four licensing objectives.

In reaching this decision, the Committee concluded that the exceptional circumstances relied upon by the applicant, namely the same exceptional circumstances that justified the grant of the current Premises licence due to the Pandemic (and because sexual entertainment venues were unable to operate during this time), no longer existed. In light of this finding, the Committee concluded that the applicant had not demonstrated exceptional circumstances. The Committee also noted the Licensing Authority’s uncertainty as to how the Premises would operate this. As such, the Committee concluded that the Applicant had not provided sufficient evidence to depart from the Council’s policy.

Accordingly, the Sub Committee decided that the Applicant had not provided sufficient reasons as to why the granting of the application would promote the licensing objectives and therefore refused the application in all the circumstances of the case.

 

This is the Full Decision of the Licensing Sub Committee which takes effect forthwith.

 

The Licensing Sub-Committee

16 September 2021