Agenda item

WCC LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE NO. 2

(“The Committee”)

 

Thursday 8^th September 2022

 

Membership:           Maggie Carman (Chairman) Councillor Md Shamsed Chowdhury and Councillor Louise Hyams

 

Officer Support:         Legal Advisor:           Steve Burnett

                                  Policy Officer:            Daisy Gadd

                                  Committee Officer:    Sarah Craddock

                                  Presenting Officer:    Jessica Donovan

 

Present:                   Mr Sammohan Chhetri representing the Applicant

Mr Swarnim Gurung (The Applicant)

                                Mr AJ Denehan (Residential Objector)

                                Mr A Sinclair (Residential Objector)

 

FULL DECISION

 

Application for a New Premises Licence in respect of Aloo Tama Nepalese Restaurant 18 Greencoat Row London SW1P 1PG 22/05081/LIPN

 

FULL DECISION

 

Premises

Aloo Tama Nepalese Restaurant

18 Greencoat Row

London SW1P 1PG

 

Applicant

Mr Swarnim Gurung

 

Ward

Vincent Square

 

CIZ or SCZ

N/A

 

 

Activities and hours applied for

Sale of Alcohol (On)

Mondays to Sun 12:00 to 23:00

 

Opening Hours

Mondays to Sun 12:00 to 23:00

 

 

 

Summary of Application

The Committee has determined an application for a New Premises Licence under the Licensing Act 2003 (“The Act”). According to the application form the premises intends to trade as a restaurant.

 

Representations Received

PC Dave Morgan - Metropolitan Police (Withdrawn on the 27^th July 2022 after agreeing conditions.

Andrea Cindel – Residential Objection

Mr Alan Sinclair – Residential Objection

AJ Denehan – Residential Objection

 

Summary of Representations.

The residents asserted that:

1)    The premises is located in the wrong area, namely a residential area.

2)    The premises lacks any noise insulation and customer noise inside and outside causes a noise nuisance.

3)    There is a risk of rowdy behaviour if alcohol is sold.

4)    There will be odours emanating from the premisses causes a nuisance.

5)    There is a lack of adequate toilet facilities for customers.

6)    There is a risk to residents from customers using the communal toilets.

7)    There is inadequate refuse storage and collection.

8)    The Applicant has shown a disregard towards the complaints made by his neighbours.

9)    The capacity of the premises does not allow for the numbers seen on the premises.

Policy Position

HRS1

 

• Under Policy HRS1, applications within the core hours set out in the policy will generally be granted for the relevant premises uses, subject to not being contrary to other policies in the Statement of Licensing Policy and applications for hours outside the core hours set out in the policy will be considered on their merits, subject to other relevant policies, and with particular regard to the matters identified in Policy HRS1.

 

RNT1

·       Applications 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 being within the council’s Core Hours Policy HRS1.

 

The application and operation of the venue meeting the definition of a restaurant as per Clause C of Westminster’s policy.

 

SUBMISSIONS AND REASONS

 

The Presenting Officer, Jessica Donovan introduced the application to the Committee.

The Applicants representative, Mr Chhetri, advised the Committee that the operation is a family business which has operated for over 1 year and the application for the sale of alcohol will be secondary to the sale of food. The kitchen currently closes at 21.30 and the public area caters for about 22 customers.

 

The Committee was informed that trade is usually by bookings and that busy periods fall between 19.30 and 21.00. The Applicant operate a bring your own alcohol, but the Applicant would like to sell his own.

 

The Applicant stated to the Committee that there are no issues with nuisance and that they discussions with residents with an aim to resolve any issues.

 

The Applicant addressed the complaints about toilets and informed the Members that the toilet is a single person use facility which are cleaned regularly.

 

In response to questions from the Committee, the Applicant stated that they did not have an efficient extraction system, but they have now had specialist reports and will be seeking approval for a more efficient system to prevent food odour.

 

The Committee was also informed that the operation relies on waste collection from Westminster Council.

 

Mr Denehan confirmed that he is a resident living behind the premises and prior to opening, he spoke to the operator about the potential for cooking smells to create a nuisance. Nothing was done about this, and he has to close his own windows to his accommodation at 16.00 to prevent cooking smells from affecting him and his visitors.

 

Mr Denehan is of the opinion that the only ventilation at the premises is 2 small windows which remain open along with the entrance doors. He questions why the operator did not install ventilation and extraction units before opening.

 

The Committee was further informed by Mr Denehan that the proposed restaurant toilet is a back yard, brick building which is in an ‘’appalling’’ state. He stated that the toilets were not safe and unhygienic.

 

Mr Denehan informed the Committee that the operator is charming but he never does anything about the problems their operation causes.

 

In response to questions from the Committee, Mr Denehan stated that the premises previously traded as a snack bar and that he has never complained to the council about the issues he faced. He also accepted that if the application was granted, there are certain conditions which could be added, to manage the operation of the premises and that any breach of those conditions could result in the licence being reviewed.

 

The second residential objector, Mr Sinclair, stated that he lives above the restaurant and that he objects to the grant of the premises licence.

 

Mr Sinclair explained to the Committee that the building and area is not suitable for a restaurant. He described that there was no sound proofing in the building and customer noise can be heard through the floorboards of his studio flat and customer noise outside the premises causes a nuisance.

 

Mr Sinclair requested permission to provide new evidence of recent video footage. However, the Applicant did not consent and therefore permission was not granted under the provisions of para 18 of the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regs 2005.

 

Mr Sinclair alleges that the Applicant uses residents’ bins for commercial waste and that the Applicant is selling alcohol at the premises.

 

Both residents continued to inform the Committee that they had spoken to the Applicant and informed him that drinking, and smoking are not permitted in the communal area. They have also seen that on occasions staff have not been monitoring the public area of the premises.

 

The Committee was advised that the toilet being used is in a communal area and therefore causes a risk of crime against residents in the immediate vicinity although there was no evidence of this having taken place during the operation of this premises.

 

The Applicant summarised by stating that he had agreed to numerous conditions at pages 244 and 255 of the agenda papers, which will address the residents’ fears and that an extraction system is being installed once they have the relevant permissions.

 

In response to questions from Mr Burnett, the Applicant confirmed that if the application was granted, they were aware that they would have to comply with all the conditions before they would be able to sell alcohol. They also agreed with Mr Burnett that as the kitchen closes at 21.30, the Committee may be rightly minded to restrict the closing time of the premises to 22.00 and the terminal time for the sale of alcohol to 21.30. The Applicant stated that these restrictions were acceptable, if the Premises Licence was granted.

 

 

 

 

Decision

 

The Committee is aware that it has a duty to consider each application on its individual merits and did so when determining this application.

The Committee decided that the Applicant had provided valid reasons as to why the granting of the New Premises Licence would promote the licensing objectives.

 

The Committee had regard to, but not exclusively to the fact that the premises is not located in a CIZ or SCZ, that the Applicant would be subject to controls under the agreed conditions on the premises licence and that the Applicant has agreed to reduce his trading hours to below core hours.

 

There would be limited controls on the operation without a Premises Licence and the premises could continue to trade as a restaurant up to 23.00 and customers BYO alcohol without a premises licence.

 

The Committee was also mindful that the complaints made by the residents in writing and at the hearing could be addressed by suitable, appropriate agreed conditions to prevent nuisance and crime and disorder. The Members also noted that there were no representations from the Environmental Health Service, the Metropolitan Police or the Licensing Authority.

 

Having therefore carefully considered the committee papers, Licensing act 2003, Westminster’s Statement of Licensing Policy, the Revised Guidance issued under sec 182 of the Licensing Act 2003 and the submissions made by all the parties, both orally and in writing, the Committee has decided, after taking into account all the individual circumstances of this case and the promotion of the four licensing objectives:

a)    To grant permission for the Sale of Alcohol for consumption on the Premises:

 

Monday to Sunday 12.00 to 21.30

 

b)    To grant permission for the premises to open to the public:

 

Mondays to Sundays 12.00 to 22.00

 

c)     The New Premises Licence shall be subject to the relevant Mandatory Conditions and to the following conditions agreed at the hearing:

 

 

Agreed Conditions consistent with the operating schedule:

 

Conditions agreed and imposed at the hearing

 

9. The premises shall install and maintain a comprehensive CCTV system as per the

minimum requirements of the Westminster Police Licensing Team. All entry and exit

points shall 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 and shall include the external area immediately outside the premises entrance. 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.

 

10. 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.

 

11. Substantial food and non-intoxicating beverages, including drinking water, shall be available in all parts of the premises where alcohol is sold or supplied for consumption on the premises.

 

12. A Challenge 21 or 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.

 

13. Patrons permitted to temporarily leave and then re-enter the premises, e.g. to smoke or make a phone call, shall not be permitted to take glass containers with them.

 

14. 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 shall be available for inspection at the premises by the police or an authorised officer of the City Council at all times whilst the premises is open.

 

15. An incident log shall be kept at the premises and made available on request to an authorised officer of the City Council or the Police. It must be completed within 24 hours of the incident and shall 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 refusal of the sale of alcohol

(h) any visit by a relevant authority or emergency service.

 

16. The premises shall only operate as a restaurant,

 

(i) in which customers are shown to their table or the customer shall select a table themselves,

(ii) where the supply of alcohol is by waiter or waitress service only,

(iii) which provide food in the form of substantial table meals that are prepared on the premises and are served and consumed at the table,

(iv) which do not provide any takeaway service of food or drink for immediate

consumption off the premises,

(v) where alcohol shall not be sold or supplied, otherwise than for consumption by persons who are seated in the premises and bona fide taking substantial table meals there and provided always that the consumption of alcohol by such persons is ancillary to taking such meals.

 

For the purpose of this condition ‘Substantial Table Meal’ means – a meal such as might be expected to be served as the main midday or main evening meal, or as a main course at either such meal and is eaten by a person seated at a table, or at a counter or other structure which serves the purposes of a table and is not used for the service of refreshments for consumption by persons not seated at a table or structure servicing the purposes of a table.

 

Notwithstanding this condition customers are permitted to take from the premises part consumed and resealed bottles of wine supplied ancillary to their meal.

 

17. A direct telephone number for the manager at the premises shall be publicly available at all times the premises is open. This telephone number and/or is to be made available to residents in the vicinity.

 

18. 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.

 

19. All windows and external doors shall be kept closed after (20:00) hours, except for the immediate access and egress of persons.

 

20. No fumes, steam or odours shall be emitted from the licensed premises so as to cause a nuisance to any persons living or carrying on business in the area where the premises are situated.

 

 

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

The Licensing Sub-Committee

8 September 2022 

Informative:

Residents are reminded that they are at liberty to report any noise or odour nuisance emanating from a premises to Westminster Council at:

https://www.westminster.gov.uk/report-it