Agenda item
Tesco, 55 Baker Street, W1U 8EW
Minutes:
WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE No.1
(“The Committee”)
Thursday 18 November 2021
Membership: Councillor Jim Glen (Chairman)
Councillor Jacqui Wilkinson
Councillor Aziz Toki
Officer Support: Legal Advisor: Horatio Chance
Policy Officer: Kerry Simpkin
Committee Officer: Kisi Smith-Charlemagne
Presenting Officer: Roxanna Haq
Application for a New Premises Licence in respect of Tesco (Unit 67)
55 Baker Street London, W1U 8EW 21/06914/LIPN
Present: Mr Jeremy Bark – Solicitor (Applicant)
Ms Hardish Purewal - Licensing Manager (Applicant)
Premises
(Unit 67) 55 Baker Street London W1U 8EW
Applicant
Cumulative Impact Area
None
Ward
Marylebone High Street
Summary of Application
The Sub-Committee has determined an application for a New Premises Licence under the Licensing Act 2003 (“The Act”). The Premises intends to trade as a retail premises (supermarket) selling a range of goods and services. This includes the sale of alcohol for consumption Off the Premises. The Sub-Committee noted that sales of alcohol for consumption Off the Premises are made from the supermarket sales floor as shown on the licence plan and may also be made through home delivery. Following consultation, the Applicant amended the hours for the sale of alcohol from 06:00 to 00:00 Monday to Sunday to 08:00 to 23:00 Monday to Saturday and 09:00 to 22:30. There is a resident count of 59.
Activities and Hours applied for
Hours premises are open to the public:
Monday to Thursday 07:00hrs – 23:00hrs
Friday to Saturday 07:00hrs – 00:00hrs
Sunday 07:00hrs – 23:00hrs
Sale by retail of alcohol (Off sales only )
Monday to Saturday 08:00hrs – 23:00hrs
Sunday 09:00hrs – 22:30hrs
Late Night Refreshment: Indoors
Monday to Sunday 23:00hrs – 00:00hrs
Representations Received:
· Metropolitan Police (PC Bryan Lewis) (withdrawn)
· Environmental Health (Maxwell Koudah) (withdrawn)
· 1 Local Councillor (Councillor Karen Scarborough)
· Marylebone Association (GA)
· 7 Local residents
Summary of issues raised by objectors:
Concerns were raised regarding the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety and the prevention of public nuisance. Local residents maintained their representations, raising concerns regarding the number of late-night licences permitted in the area, noise, extra traffic including deliveries and litter. The Metropolitan Police and the Environmental Health Services withdrew their objections.
Policy Position:
HRS1
· Applications within the core hours set out below in this policy will
generally, be granted for the relevant premises uses, subject to not
being contrary to other policies in the Statement of Licensing Policy.
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 following:
The demonstration of compliance in the requirements of policies CD1, PS1, PN1 and CH1 associated with the likelihood of the effect of the grant of a licence for later or earlier hours on crime and disorder, public safety, public nuisance and the protection of children from harm.
SHP1
· Applications for a shop outside the West End Cumulative Impact
Zone will generally be granted subject to the application meeting the requirements of policies CD1, PS1, PN1 and CH1.
· The hours for licensable activities are within the Council’s Core
Hours Policy HRS1.
· The operation of any delivery services for alcohol meeting the
Council’s Ancillary Alcohol and/or Late-night Refreshment Delivery
Service Policy DEL1
SUBMISSIONS AND REASONS
The Sub-Committee considered an application for a New Premises Licence under the Licensing Act 2003 (“The Act”) by the Applicant Tesco Stores Limited in respect of (Unit 67) 55 Baker Street London W1U 8EW.
The Presenting Officer Ms Roxanna Haq introduced the application and advised that the Premises intended to operate as a retail premises (supermarket) selling a range of goods and services, including the sale of alcohol for consumption off the Premises. The Premises is located within the Marylebone High Street Ward but is not within the West End Cumulative Area Zone nor Special Consideration Zone. The Premises have had the benefit of a premises licence since June 2008. There is a separate premises licence in respect of the 6th Floor of the Premises.Following consultation, the hours for the sale of alcohol were reduced from 06:00 to 00:00 Monday to Sunday to 08:00 to 23:00 Monday to Saturday and 09:00 to 22:30 Sunday. This change was welcomed by the Sub-Committee.
Mr Jeremy Bark Solicitor appearing on behalf of the Applicant addressed the Sub-Committee and explained the rational for submitting the application in the first place. He advised the proposed application of these Premises resulted from the closure in September 2021 of the Applicants previous site situated in nearby George Street some 200 metres away. He said effectively this would be replacing like for like with some small additions. It is expected that the Premises will be ready for opening in the New Year.
Mr Bark stated that following consultation, the Applicant had taken note of the various objections to the application by amending the hours for the sale of alcohol from 06:00 to 00:00 Monday to Sunday to 08:00 to 23:00 Monday to Saturday and 09:00 to 22:30 Sunday. He stated that the need for late-night refreshment was because of a Costa Coffee machine which was not exempt from late night refreshment because it is not a vending machine and customers must pay at the counter. Mr Bark stated that no hot food would be served, and he was more than happy to agree to a condition which limited late-night refreshments to the sale of coffee from the Costa machine.
Mr Bark stated that the Applicant operated several similar premises with established practices and procedures in place which included extensive staff training, security, and Challenge 25. The Premises would have a team of 19-21 members of staff, including a management team. Mr Bark advised that regarding anti-social behaviour staff would expect customers to use the Premises responsibly and bad behaviour would not be tolerated. He then described the various steps staff would take in dealing with potential incidents including calling the Police and banning customers where necessary.
Mr Bark stated that there would be one delivery per day and deliveries would take place in a layby on Rathbone Street at the rear of the building. He also advised that deliveries would be transferred through the basement area and there would be no cages on street level that would give rise to nuisance. He confirmed that deliveries will take place between the hours 08:00-22:00 Monday-Saturday and 10:00-18:00 on Sundays and this was noted accordingly by the Sub-Committee.
Mr Bark discussed the amended Environmental Health conditions which had been circulated previously to all parties. He confirmed the waste conditions and amending the delivery conditions. In this respect the Sub-Committee were reluctant to use the name of the operator on the licence as they did not want to restrict the licence just to the Applicant. The Sub-Committee queried the separate premises licence in respect of the 6th Floor of the Premises. Mr Bark explained that the Premises is located on the ground level of a large building owned by the landlord. He advised that the 6th Floor is another unit and was not related to the Applicant or anyway connected to this application .
The Sub-Committee queried when the store would open to the Public and its size in comparison to the closed store in George Street and home deliveries. Mr Bark advised that the Premises opening is likely to be the early new year of 2022 and the store was a similar size to the old store on George Street comprising 3,000 square ft which is the size of most of the Tesco express stores. Ms Hardish Purewal Licensing Manager for the Applicant in answer to a question from the Sub-Committee advised that Tesco are considering a small basket home delivery service and would want small vehicles and a small operation to fit in with this concept.
The Legal Advisor to the Sub-Committee sought confirmation of the wording for proposed condition 7 relating to the deliveries and the condition relating to late-night refreshment. The Legal Advisor stated that Model Condition 24 namely “A direct telephone number for the management be publicly provided” as this had not been recorded as part of the proposed conditions and should therefore be added. Mr Bark confirmed that he was happy with conditions 7 and explained that Tesco’s Good Neighbour policy (Condition 4), which includes being aware of noise, ASB and encourages local residents to come into the store and speak with management if issues arise.
Mr Bark confirmed that the conditions should read as follows:
Condition 7: Deliveries to the premises should only take place between 06:00 and midnight (00:00 hours) but the main deliveries made by the Premises Licence Holder shall be to the dedicated loading bay within the building as a whole and within the hours all deliveries as set out in the planning permission for the building as a whole (08:00-22:00 Monday -Saturday and 10:00- 18:00 on Sundays).
The Legal Advisor said that for the sake of clarity the relevant planning consent number be added to the condition. Mr Bark confirmed that the Applicant was resisting condition MC24 as it was felt that their proposed condition 4 offered the same level of reassurance to local residents. On that basis the Legal Advisor suggested that the word ‘effectively’ be added to condition 4 so that it should read as follows:
Condition 4: The Store Manager will engage effectively with local resident associations should the need arise.
Conclusion
The Sub-Committee realises that it has a duty to consider each application on its individual merits and did so for the purposes of this application.
The Sub-Committee welcomed the fact that the Applicant took on board fully the views of local residents and the local Ward Councillor that had objected to the application by reducing the times for the off sale of alcohol. This demonstrated to the Sub-Committee that the Applicant was willing to engage and listen to the parties by reaching a fair compromise on matters.
The Sub-Committee noted that the Metropolitan Police objected to the application but later withdrew their objection on the basis of the reduction in hours and the agreement of additional conditions. The Sub-Committee was pleased that conditions relating to CCTV, the strength of alcohol and management of it generally, the requirement to have SIA staff on duty at the Premises and a digital incident record log were all conditions imposed on the licence that would help promote the crime and disorder licensing objective.
The Sub-Committee noted that the proposed operation of these Premises resulted from the closure of the Applicants previous site situated in nearby George street some 200 metres away. Effectively this would be replacing like for like with some small additions. It is expected that the Premises will be ready for opening in the New Year with a similar footfall.
The Sub-Committee noted that the Applicant had multiple established practices and procedures in place which included extensive and regular staff training, security, and Challenge 25. The Applicant confirmed also that the Late-Night Refreshment on offer at the Premises will be restricted to that of a coffee vending machine by customers with no hot food available to customers. In this respect the Sub-Committee decided to impose condition 31 as specified below.
The Sub-Committee noted the Applicant’s assurances and various undertakings that the Premises would be well run in accordance with those established practices and procedures already in bedded over time in respect of other licensed premises that are to be applied and adopted for these Premises. The Sub-Committee concluded that these measures would help mitigate the concerns raised by the Local Ward Councillor and residents and ultimately have the effect of promoting the licensing objectives.
The Sub-Committee decided that the Applicant had provided valid reasons as to why the granting of the application would promote the licensing objectives.
Having carefully considered the committee papers and the submissions made by all the parties, both orally and in writing, the Sub-Committee has decided, after taking into account all the individual circumstances of this case and the promotion of the four licensing objectives: -
1. To grant permission for the Off Sale of Alcohol Monday to Saturday 08:00 to 23:00 hours. Sunday 09:00 to 22:30. There are no seasonal variations.
2. To grant permission for Late Night Refreshment (Indoors) Monday to Sunday 23:00 to 00:00 hours. There are no seasonal variations.
3. To grant permission for the Opening Hours of the Premises:Monday to Sunday 06:00 to 00:00. There are no seasonal variations.
4. That the Licence is subject to any relevant mandatory conditions.
5. That the Licence is subject to the following additional conditions imposed by the Committee which are considered appropriate and proportionate to promote the licensing objectives.
Conditions imposed by the Committee after a hearing
6. The licensable activities authorised by this licence and provided at the premises shall be ancillary to the main function of the premises as a retail supermarket
7. All sales of alcohol for consumption off the premises shall be in sealed containers only and shall not be consumed on the premises.
8. 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 or any other approved by the Home Office.
9. The Store Manager will engage effectively with local resident associations should the need arise.
10. All waste shall be properly presented and placed out for collection no earlier than 30 minutes before the scheduled collection times.
11. No waste or recyclable materials, including bottles, shall be moved, removed from or placed in outside areas between 23.00 hours and 08.00 hours on the following day.
12. Deliveries to the premises shall only take place between 06:00 and midnight (00:00 hours) but the main deliveries made by the Premises Licence Holder shall be to the dedicated hours by which the building as a whole operates and in any event to the hours stipulated for delivery in accordance with the relevant planning consent.
13. Prominent, clear and legible notices must be displayed at all exits requesting staff and couriers to respect the needs of local residents and to leave the premises and the area quietly.
14. 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 nuisance.
15. During the hours of operation of the premises, the licence holder shall ensure sufficient measures are in place to remove and prevent litter or waste arising or accumulating from customers in the area immediately outside the premises, and that this area shall be swept and or washed, and litter and sweepings collected and stored in accordance with the approved refuse storage arrangements by close of business
16. No licensable activities shall take place at the premises until the premises has been assessed as satisfactory by the Environmental Health Consultation Team at which time this condition shall be removed from the Licence by the licensing authority.
17. The premises shall install and maintain a comprehensive CCTV system as per the minimum requirements of the Westminster Police Licensing Team.
(b) All entry and exit points will be covered enabling frontal identification of every person entering in any light condition.
(c) The CCTV system shall continually record whilst the premises is open for licensable activities
(d) All recordings shall be stored for a minimum period of 31 days with date and time stamping.
(e) Viewing of recordings shall be made available immediately upon the request of Police or authorised officer throughout the entire 31-day period.
18. 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 is 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.
19. All sales of alcohol for consumption off the premises shall be in sealed containers only and shall not be consumed on the premises.
20. All checkouts in the shop area, shall automatically prompt staff to ask for age verification identification in line with the Tesco Challenge 25 policy when presented with an alcohol sale.
21. No super-strength beer, lagers, ciders or spirit mixtures of 5.5% ABV (alcohol by volume) or above shall be sold at the premises, except for premium or craft beers and ciders supplied in glass bottles and cans.
22. No single cans or bottles of beer or cider or spirit mixtures shall be sold at the premises save for premium or craft products.
23. No more than 15% of the sales area within the shop, shall be used at any one time for the sale, exposure for sale, or display of alcohol.
24. No miniature bottles of spirits of 20 cl or below shall be sold from the premises save for when sold as part of a gift pack.
25. Prominent signage indicating the permitted hours for the sale of alcohol shall be displayed so as to be visible on entering the premises, where alcohol is on public display, and at the point of sale.
26. 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.
27. All staff engaged or to be engaged in the sale of alcohol on the premises shall receive training in age restricted sales which shall include induction training completed and documented prior to such staff member selling alcohol and then shall include refresher training so that they receive such training at least twice per year. All such training records shall be available for inspection by a police officer on reasonable request.
28. An digital record of incidents occurring at the premises shall be kept at the premises by the management team and made available on request to an authorised officer of the City Council or the Police. It should be completed within 24 hours of the incident and will record the following:
(a) all crimes reported to the venue;
(b) any serious incidents of disorder occurring within the premises
(c) any thefts or attempted thefts from the premises;
(d) any serious issues in relation to the sale of alcohol within the premises;
(e) any faults in the CCTV system; or
(f) any visit by a relevant authority or emergency service.
29. The premises licence holder shall employ a minimum of one SIA registered security guard at the premises unless the Police agree there is no requirement.
30. Prior to any “designated sporting event” (as defined in the Sporting Events Control of Alcohol Act 1985) taking place at Wembley Stadium, the premises licence holder shall ensure where requested to do so by the police that:
i. Alcohol sales in respect of cans of beer or cider are limited to no more than 4 cans per person for a minimum of four hours before the commencement of the relevant designated sporting event.
ii. No sales of alcohol in bottles or glass containers are made in the period four hours before the commencement of the designated sporting event.
iii. Alcohol sales cease for a period of four hours immediately before the commencement of the relevant designated sporting event,
iv. On any day where there is a relevant designated sporting event taking place, the premises will not externally advertise as a result of a local store promotion the availability of beer or cider in such a way as to be likely to be the sole inducement to attract persons to the premises who are either attending the designated sporting event or in the vicinity of the premises as a result of the designated sporting event.
v. On the day of the relevant designated sporting event, upon the direction of a police officer of the rank of at least inspector, using the grounds of the prevention of crime and disorder or public safety, the premises will immediately cease to sell alcohol until further directed by the police the same day.
31. Late Night Refreshment shall be limited to the use of the Coffee Vending Machine by customers during only the permitted hours.
If problems persist then a Review of the Premises Licence can be made.
This is the Full Decision of the Licensing Sub-Committee which takes effect forthwith
The Licensing Sub-Committee
18 November 2021
Supporting documents:
-
LSC Report - Tesco_Redacted, item 2.
PDF 5 MB - Restricted enclosure View the reasons why document 2./2 is restricted
- Restricted enclosure View the reasons why document 2./3 is restricted
- Restricted enclosure View the reasons why document 2./4 is restricted