Agenda item
Kazan, 93-94 Wilton Road, SW1V 1DW
Minutes:
WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE NO.1
(“The Committee”)
Thursday 2 March 2023
Membership: Councillor Aziz Toki (Chair) and Councillor Md Shamsed Chowdhury
Officer Support Legal Advisor: Viviene Walker
Policy Officer: Daisy Gadd
Committee Officer: Sarah Craddock
Presenting Officer: Jessica Donovan
Others present: Mr Levent Hassan (Applicant), Mr Dave Nevitt (Environmental Health Service), Mr Samuel Countryman and Miss Christine Middleton (local residents).
Application for a New Premises Licence in respect of Kazan 93-94 Wilton Road London SW1V 1DW – 22/10485/LIPN
Full Decision
Premises
Kazan
93-94 Wilton Road
London SW1V 1DW
Applicant
Mr Hassan Levent
Ward
Pimlico North
Cumulative Impact Zone
N/A
Special Consideration Zone
Victoria
Activities and Hours applied for
· Recorded Music (Indoors)
Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 23:00 hours
Sunday 10:00 to 22:30 hours
Seasonal Variations: None
· Late Night Refreshment (Indoors)
Monday to Saturday 23:00 to 23:30 hours
Seasonal Variations: None
· Sale by Retail of Alcohol (On and Off Sales)
Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 23:00 hours
Sunday 12:00 to 22:30 hours
Seasonal Variations: None
· Hours Premises are Open to the Public
Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 23:30 hours
Sunday 12:00 to 23:00 hours
Seasonal Variations: None
Summary of Application
This is an application for a New Premises Licence under the Licensing Act 2003 (“The Act”). The Premises operate as a restaurant. The Premises previously had the benefit of a premises licence (06/12282/WCCMAP), but the licence lapsed due to an administrative error dating back to March 2016.
There is a resident count of 218.
Representations Received
· Metropolitan Police Service (withdrew 16 December 2022)
· Environmental Health Service
· Three local residents (objected to the Application)
· Two local residents (withdrawn)
· One local resident (supported the application).
Issues raised by Objectors.
· The proposals are likely to increase the risk of Public Nuisance and may impact upon Public Safety.
· I opposed to the application to extend the hours of the premises 2300
(alcohol) and 2330 (light refreshments) nightly. Despite being a busy thoroughfare Wilton Road is not a locale with a night-time economy, all local restaurants observing fairly early hours of closing nightly. The current application, if successful, will open the floodgates for similar applications from neighbouring businesses. This is turn would alter the character of the area and diminish tranquillity of the residents of what remains a primarily residential area of SW1.
· This is a residential area and 11.30 p.m. is too late and would I fear set a precedent for all the restaurants in the street.
· In the summer months when the windows are open at night, large groups of diners who often have enjoyed a drink are not ever quiet when leaving.
They stand outside for both smoking and waiting for taxis at the end of the night.
· If the time was amended to 10.30 that would be fine and would be more than they currently use.
Policy Considerations
SCZ1
Applications within a designated Special Consideration Zone should demonstrate that they have taken account of the issues particular to the Zone in question as identified within the Cumulative Impact Assessment and should set out any proposed mitigation measures in relation to those issues within their operating schedule.
HRS1
Applications within the core hours set out 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.
RNT1
Applications outside the West End Cumulative Impact Zone will generally be granted subject to not being contrary to other policies in the Statement of Licensing Policy.
SUBMISSIONS AND REASONS
The Presenting Officer, Jessica Donovan, introduced the application to the Sub-Committee and advised that this was an application for a New Premises Licence in respect ofKazan 93-94 Wilton Road London SW1V 1DW. The Premises currently operate as a restaurant. She advised that representations had been received by the Environmental Health Service and six local residents. She added that two of the local residents had since withdrawn their representation and one resident was in support of the application. She further advised that the Metropolitan Police Service had withdrawn their representation after conditions had been agreed with the Applicant. She confirmed that the Premises are within the Pimlico North Ward and the Victoria Special Consideration Zone.
Mr Levent Hassan, the Applicant addressed the Sub-Committee. He advised that his grandfather had purchased the restaurant in 1961 and since then it had been operated as a family business. He confirmed that he was now the owner of the restaurant and the director of the company. He explained that the company had changed its name to Kazan and Restaurant Limited when they expanded the business which had gone unnoticed until the Licensing Authority had spotted that the restaurant’s name on their insurance documents did not match their Premises Licence. He advised that the Licensing Authority had informed him that he would need to apply for a new Premises Licence because of this administrative error even thought he was already operating as a restaurant. Mr Hassan confirmed that his business had not gone into liquidation.
In response to questions from the Sub Committee, Mr Hassan confirmed that he operated the Premises as a restaurant within the Council’s Core Hours Policy. He stated that he had never received any complaints from residents. He advised that his restaurant was one of the nicest ones in the area and had featured on a few television programmes such as MasterChef. He explained that the restaurant had a capacity of 120 patrons and the majority of people booked before coming to the restaurant. He advised that there were residents living above the Premises which had not made a representation against the application. He advised that there was outside seating, however it was rarely used because customers did not want to drink coffee next to a busy and noisy road. He confirmed that the outside area belonged to the Premises and was not part of the highway.
Mr Hassan advised that the Premises consisted of a small bar, a basement with a capacity for forty patrons and a ground floor with a capacity for eighty persons. He confirmed that the administrative error was noticed in December 2022, and that the Licensing Authority had allowed him to continue to operate as a restaurant without the sale of alcohol over the Christmas period.
Mr Dave Nevitt, representing the Environmental Health Service (EHS) confirmed that this was an existing family run restaurant that consisted of a small bar, basement and ground floor. He explained that there had been an administrative error whereby the company name had changed and hence invalidated the Premises Licence. Mr Hassan had therefore had to apply for a new Premises Licence which was why he was before the Sub Committee today. He advised that Mr Hassan had ceased selling alcohol as soon as the administrative error had become apparent and had traded with customers either bringing their own alcohol or with Temporary Event Notices (TENs). He emphasised that there had been no breach of the regulations.
Mr Nevitt advised that the Environmental Health Service viewed the Premises as being operated satisfactorily without complaint or cause for concern and were content with the application as the nature of the operation was remaining as a family run restaurant. He stated that the Applicant did not need a tables and chairs licence as the outside seating area belonged to the Premises. He advised that proposed condition 11 was effectively the Council’s model restaurant condition MC66 as it outlined that the Premises shall operate as a bona fide restaurant, that alcohol was ancillary to a meal and food was served by waitress/waiter service. He further advised that the EHS had requested the proposed condition 24 which stated that the capacity for the basement be restricted to forty patrons.
Mr Nevitt advised the Sub-Committee that the Premises were located in the Victoria Special Consideration Zone however residential concerns regarding noise nuisance should be alleviated as the Premises would be operating within the Council’s Core Hours. He advised that the restaurant would only be playing background music and that recorded and/or live music up to 23:00 hours was deregulated. He advised that all proposed conditions had been agreed with the Applicant and that the EHS was satisfied with the application.
Mr Samuel Countryman, local resident, advised the Sub-Committee that Wilton Road and the surrounding area was primary residential and was not a locale with a night-time economy. He stated that currently the local restaurants observed fairly early hours of closing but if this application was granted it would open the floodgates for similar applications from neighbouring Premises. He advised that he was not against Kazan or restaurants in general however there needed to be a balance of residential and commercial Premises within the area. He requested that the Licensing Sub Committee restrict the licensable activities to 22:00 hours.
Miss Christine Middleton, local resident, advised that the character of the area would change if Premises were allowed to operate late into the night. She advised that during the summer months she was unable to open her windows past 20:00 hours because of people hanging around the area after visiting the local pubs/restaurants. She echoed Mr Countryman that this was a high quality restaurant and that licensable activities should cease at 22:00 hours. She considered that this would reduce the noise, broken glass and anti-social behaviour on the streets. She confirmed that she had no concerns regarding the operation of the Premises.
During his summing up, Mr Nevitt advised that this was a food led establishment operating within the Council’s Core Hours Policy and that the proposed conditions should alleviate the residents’ concerns. He advised that all proposed conditions had been agreed with the Applicant and that the EHS was satisfied with the application.
During his summing up, Mr Hassan thanked the residents for their kind words. He emphasised that his restaurant was all about the food and all alcohol was ancillary to a table meal. He confirmed that he had agreed to all the proposed conditions from the Responsible Authorities. In response to Ms Walker, Legal Adviser to the Sub Committee, he confirmed that he was happy to have Conditions MC34, MC35, MC43 and MC 64 regarding the collection of waste from his Premises and deliveries to his Premises and MC24 regarding providing a direct telephone number to residents attached to the Premises Licence.
Conclusion
The Sub-Committee has determined an application for a grant of a new Premises Licence under the Licensing Act 2003 (“The Act”).
The Sub-Committee noted that they have a duty to consider each application on its individual merits.
The Sub-Committee noted that the Premises had been operated as a restaurant for years and that it was only due to an administrative error regarding a single word change in the company’s name that had led the Applicant to apply for a new Premises Licence. The Sub Committee further noted that the Applicant had continuously paid his licence fee to the Council and the company had not gone into liquidation.
The Sub Committee noted that the Applicant was an experienced operator and the restaurant was part of a family owned business which had been operating since 1961. The Applicant had not requested an extension of his licensable activities and the restaurant was going to be operated within the Council’s Core Hours Policy. It was noted that the Metropolitan Police Service had withdrawn their representation and the Environmental Health Service (EHS) were satisfied with the application.
The EHS advised the Sub-Committee that they did not have any specific issues with the Premises when it came to public nuisance and had only maintained their objections because the Premises were located within the Victoria Special Consideration Zone (VSCZ) and because of the residential objections.
The Sub Committee noted that there was no change in respect of the permitted hours, nor the capacity and the additional conditions imposed on the Premises would alleviate any residential concerns.
The Sub-Committee imposed additional Conditions on the Premises Licence regarding waste collection and deliveries to the Premises and the MC 24 which requires that a telephone number be made available for the Premises so that local residents and businesses in the vicinity can make contact should any problems arise.
In reaching their decision, the Sub-Committee concluded that the hours it imposed on the licence for the licensable activities applied for having regard to the Core Hours Policy was appropriate and proportionate and therefore struck the right balance when considering the needs of local residents and the Applicants commercial needs to be able to operate and run his business successfully.
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 the application and the promotion of the four licensing objectives to grant the application with the following permissions:
1. To grant permission for:
Recorded Music (Indoors)
Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 23:00 hours
Sunday 10:00 to 22:30 hours
Seasonal Variations: None
Late Night Refreshment (Indoors)
Monday to Saturday 23:00 to 23:30 hours
Seasonal Variations: None
Sale by Retail of Alcohol (On and Off Sales)
Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 23:00 hours
Sunday 12:00 to 22:30 hours
Seasonal Variations: None
Hours Premises are Open to the Public
Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 23:30 hours
Sunday 12:00 to 23:00 hours
Seasonal Variations: None
2. The Licence is subject to any relevant Mandatory Conditions.
3. The Licence is subject to the following conditions imposed by the
Committee which are considered appropriate and proportionate to
promote the licensing objectives.
Conditions imposed by the Committee after a hearing with the agreement of the Applicant.
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 will be covered enabling frontal identification of every person entering in any light condition. The CCTV system shall continually record whilst the premises are open for licensable activities and during all times when customers remain on the premises and will 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 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.
11. The premises shall only operate as a restaurant,
(i) in which customers are shown to their table or the customer will 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.
12. All sales of alcohol for consumption off the premises shall be in sealed containers only and shall not be consumed on the premises.
13. Sales of alcohol for consumption off the premises shall only be supplied with, and ancillary to a takeaway meal or meal consumed in a designated external seating area.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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 are open.
17. 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 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 refusal of the sale of alcohol
(h) any visit by a relevant authority or emergency service.
18. 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.
19. Deliveries will only be made to bona fide residential or business addresses.
20. A warning shall be displayed on the digital platform on which an order is placed informing customers that they must be aged 18 or over to make a purchase of alcohol and notifying customers that the delivery personnel will carry out age verification on delivery. The customer will be asked to provide ID to prove their age in accordance with Challenge 21 or 25 scheme. If the rider is not satisfied, then the alcohol in the order will be withheld.
21. The premises licence holder will ensure that an age verification policy will apply whereby all delivery personnel will be trained to ask any customer to whom alcohol is delivered, who appears to be under the age of 25 years to produce, before being sold alcohol, identification being a passport or photocard driving licence bearing a holographic mark or other form of identification that complies with any mandatory condition that may apply to this licence.
22. All delivery personnel shall receive training in age restricted sales.
Induction training must be completed and documented prior to the delivery of alcohol by the rider.
Refresher/reinforcement training must be completed and documented at intervals of no more than 6 months.
Training records will be available for inspection by a Police Officer or other authorised officer on request.
Training records will be electronically stored by the licence holder for a period of 12 months.
23. All delivery personnel shall be trained to record refusals of sales of alcohol in a refusal’s log/register. The log/register will contain:
- details of the time and date the refusal was made.
- the identity of the delivery personnel refusing the sale.
- details of the alcohol the person attempted to purchase.
This log/register will be available for inspection by a Police Officer or other authorised officer on request.
24. The number of persons permitted in the Basement of the premises at any one time (excluding staff) shall not exceed 40 persons.
25. All waste shall be properly presented and placed out for collection no earlier than 30 minutes before the scheduled collection times.
26. 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.
27. No collections of waste or recycling materials (including bottles) from the premises shall take place between 23.00 and 08.00 hours on the following day.
28. No deliveries to the premises shall take place between 23.00 and 08.00 hours on the following day.
29. A direct telephone number for the manager at the premises shall be publicly available at all times the premises are open. This telephone number is to be made available to residents and businesses in the vicinity.
This is the Full Decision of the Licensing Sub-Committee which takes effect forthwith.
The Licensing Sub-Committee
2 March 2023
Supporting documents:
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Kazan Report_Redacted, item 1.
PDF 466 KB - Restricted enclosure View the reasons why document 1./2 is restricted