Agenda item
Grand Hotel Bellevue London, 25-27 Norfolk Square, W2 1RX
Minutes:
WCC LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE NO. 1
(“The Committee”)
Thursday 14 March 2024
Membership: Councillor Aziz Toki (Chair), Councillor Iman Less and Councillor Caroline Sargent
Officer Support Legal Advisor: Michael Feeney
Policy Officer: Kerry Simpkin
Committee Officer: Jonathan Deacon
Presenting Officer: Jessica Donovan
Others present: Mr Charles Denny (Innpacked Ltd, representing the Applicant), Mr Yannis Badakian (the proposed Designated Premises Supervisor), Mr Maxwell Koduah (Environmental Health), Mr Richard Brown, Licensing Advice Project (on behalf of Hyde Park Estate Association andSouth East Bayswater Residents’ Association) and 1 local resident (on behalf of South East Bayswater Residents’ Association).
Application for a New Premises in respect of Grand Hotel Bellevue London, 25-27 Norfolk Square, London, W2 1RX
Full Decision
Case Summary
This is an application for a New Premises Licence under the Licensing Act 2003 (“The Act”). The premises intend to operate as a hotel.
This is a new premises licence application and therefore no premises licence history exists.
There is a resident count of 122.
Representations were received from the Environmental Health Service, the Hyde Park Estate Association and the South East Bayswater Residents association, raising concerns about the application initially being outside core hours, the potential to cause nuisance and recommending the imposition of further conditions.
Premises
Grand Hotel Bellevue London
25-27 Norfolk Square,
London, W2 1RX
Applicant
Paddington Hospitality Limited
Cumulative Impact Area
None
Special Consideration Zone
None
Ward
Hyde Park
Policy Considerations
Policies HRS1 and HOT1(A) apply.
Policy HRS1
A. 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.
B. 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:
1. 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.
2. If the application is located within a Special Consideration Zone they have demonstrated that they have taken account of the issues identified in that area and provided adequate mitigation.
3. Whether there is residential accommodation in the proximity of the premises that would likely be adversely affected by premises being open or carrying out operations at the hours proposed.
4. The proposed hours of the licensable activities and when customers will be permitted to remain on the premises.
5. The proposed hours when any music, including incidental music, will be played.
6. The hours when customers will be allowed to take food or drink outside the premises or be within open areas which form part of the premises.
7. The existing hours of licensable activities and the past operation of the premises (if any) and hours of licensable premises in the vicinity.
8. Whether customers and staff have adequate access to public transport when arriving at and leaving the premises, especially at night.
9. The capacity of the premises.
10. The type of use, recognising that some venues are more likely to impact the licensing objectives than others; for example, pubs and bars are higher risk than theatres, cinemas and other cultural and sporting venues due to the nature of the operation.
11. The Licensing Authority will take into account the active measures proposed for a ‘winding down’ period including arrangements for people to be collected from the premises to travel home safely.
12. Conditions on hours may be attached that require that the supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises ceases a suitable period of time before customers are required to leave the premises.
13. The council, acting as the Licensing Authority, may reduce hours if, after review, it is necessary to impose conditions specifying shorter hours in order to promote the licensing objectives.
14. Specific days for non-standard hours should be identified and justified as part of the application to allow responsible authorities and interested parties to evaluate the impact that these licensable activities may have, and to plan accordingly. The consideration of applications for later hours for Bank Holiday Mondays will take into account that later hours are generally granted for preceding Sundays and that the next day is a working day. Non-specific days are expected to be covered by Temporary Event Notices or variation applications.
C. For the purpose of Clauses A and B above, the Core Hours for applications for each premises use type as defined within this policy are:
4. Hotels
Monday to Thursday: 9am to 11:30pm.
Friday and Saturday: 9am to Midnight
Sunday: 9am to 10.30pm.
D. Core hours are when customers are permitted to be on the premises and therefore the maximum opening hours permitted will be to the same start and terminal hours for each of the days where licensable activity is permitted.
E. For the purposes of this policy, ‘premises uses’ are defined within the relevant premises use policies within this statement.
Note: The core hours are for all licensable activities but if an application includes late night refreshment, then the starting time for that licensable activity will be 11pm.
Policy HOT1(A):
A. Applications outside the West End Cumulative Impact Zone will generally be granted subject to:
1. The application meeting the requirements of policies CD1, PS1, PN1 and CH1.
2. The hours for licensable activities being within the council’s Core Hours Policy HRS1.
3. The operation of any delivery services for alcohol and/or late night refreshment meeting the council’s Ancillary Delivery of Alcohol and/or Late-Night Refreshment Policy DEL1.
4. The sale by retail of alcohol, regulated entertainment and late-night refreshment must be an ancillary function to the primary purpose of the venue as a hotel.
5. The applicant has taken account of Policy SCZ1 if the premises are located within a designated zone.
6. The application and operation of the venue meeting the definition of a Hotel as per Clause C.
C. For the purposes of this policy a Hotel is defined as a premises that is primarily used as an establishment providing overnight accommodation for customers.
Submissions
- The Presenting Officer, Ms Donovan, introduced the application.
- Mr Denny, representing the Applicant, outlined the application. He confirmed that following discussions with the three parties who had submitted representations in response to the application, Environmental Health Service (EHS), Hyde Park Estate Association (HPEA) andSouth East Bayswater Residents’ Association (SEBRA), the Applicant had reduced the proposed hours of the application so that they were in keeping with the Core Hours policy.
- Mr Denny referred to a small bar on the ground floor of the Hotel which had a capacity of 25 people. This would cater mostly for residents but it was intended to be open for some non-residents as well. The downstairs basement would be primarily used for internal training but would also be available for pre-booked meetings for local businesses and occasional social gatherings. The capacity for the basement was 50 but Mr Denny commented that it was unlikely that the numbers would be close to the capacity in this area.
- Mr Denny explained that recorded music had been applied for as whilst there would be no amplified music there would be speakers in the bar area playing music such as US jazz. He added it had been included in the application to be transparent and it was unlikely to be any more audible than background music.
- In response to questions from the Sub-Committee, Mr Badakian stated that the bar would be visible from the street. However, access to the bar would be via the main entrance of the Hotel which would require customers to pass Reception in the first instance. There was no direct access to the bar from the street. Mr Denny clarified that the Applicant had agreed the condition that there would be no external advertising of the bar.
- It was confirmed to Members of the Sub-Committee by Mr Denny that all meetings or events held in the basement would be pre-booked. The Grand Hotel Bellevue was a newly acquired hotel so it was not yet known what level of bookings there were likely to be in the basement. However, it was anticipated there would be one to two bookings a month.
- The Sub-Committee heard from Mr Koduah, on behalf of EHS. He stated that he had now agreed the proposed conditions with the Applicant. This included that he was content that food (rather than substantial food) and non-intoxicating beverages, including drinking water, would be available in all parts of the premises where alcohol was sold or supplied for consumption on the premises.
- Mr Koduah asked for clarification as to whether the Applicant was confirming that the sale of alcohol (on sales only) would cease half an hour before Core Hours to members of the public as it had been mentioned in communications between the Applicant and SEBRA and Mr Denny had referred in the hearing to providing up to half an hour for customers to consume their alcohol after sales ceased. Mr Denny replied that his client was content for on sales to cease at 23:00 Monday to Thursday, 23:30 Friday to Saturday and 22:00 on Sunday and commented that because the Hotel would not be like a normal bar, there would not be a large number of people all leaving at closing time.
- The Sub-Committee was addressed by Mr Brown, representing Hyde Park Estate Association (HPEA) andSouth East Bayswater Residents’ Association (SEBRA). He stated that neither of the Amenity Societies objected to the application being granted. Further information had been sought on the application, in particular the use of the Hotel by the public. Discussions had taken place in respect of the proposed conditions.
- Mr Brown had provided a written record of SEBRA’s comments which had been included in the additional bundle of papers that had been forwarded to the Sub-Committee. He provided a further update at the hearing. The matters relating to when on sales to members of the public would cease and the Applicant having agreed conditions with EHS had been dealt with. SEBRA was requesting that the Council’s Model Condition 57 which had been agreed between the Applicant and EHS included the words ‘drinks or’ so that it read ‘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 drinks or glass containers with them’.
- Mr Brown noted that the Applicant was content to agree SEBRA’s proposed condition that there would be no external advertising of alcohol being sold at the premises. He requested that a condition was attached to the premises licence requiring all functions in the basement to be pre-booked as Mr Denny had suggested was the intended approach. Mr Brown also queried whether there was a need for the Applicant to apply for recorded music if it was background in nature after 23:00 hours. SEBRA was also requesting a condition that ‘Licensable activities authorised by this licence and provided at the premises shall be ancillary to the main function of the premises as a hotel’.
- It was also requested by Mr Brown that consideration was given to potential conditions that entry to the bar for members of the public was via the main entrance rather than entering via the street and that there was a last entry time for members of the public in order that they did not migrate from local pubs in the area to a cocktail bar late at night.
- The Sub-Committee also heard from the local resident on behalf of SEBRA. It was emphasised that whilst the Hotel would assist in providing an upgrade of the Norfolk Square area, there were some concerns who might migrate to the hotel bar, what would be the last entry time and what the basement would be used for. It was important that the basement area was not used for parties late at night with customers then making noise when leaving.
- The Sub-Committee asked Mr Denny whether he was content to agree the points made by Mr Brown/SEBRA. He replied that he was content with the words ‘drinks or’ being added to Model Condition 57. He was also content to agree the three conditions that ‘Licensable activities in the basement shall only be provided to persons attending a private, pre-booked event. A register of the private, pre-booked events held in the basement shall be kept at the Premises and made available on request to an authorised officer of the City Council or the Police’, that ‘The entrance to the bar shall only be through the main entrance to the hotel’ and ‘Licensable activities authorised by this licence and provided at the premises shall be ancillary to the main function of the premises as a hotel’. The Applicant was also content to withdraw the aspect of the application relating to recorded music.
- In response to a question from the Sub-Committee, the Applicant agreed that the wording of the proposed CCTV conditions was amended so that they were in keeping with Model Conditions 01 and 02. The Applicant also agreed to removing the words ‘as needed’ from the end of a condition that ‘All exit routes and public areas shall be kept unobstructed, shall have non-slippery and even surfaces, shall be free of trip hazards and shall be clearly signed’.
Reasons and Conclusion
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16.The Sub-Committee has determined an application for a New Premises Licence under the Licensing Act 2003. The Sub-Committee realises that it has a duty to consider each application on its individual merits and did so when determining this application.
- The Sub-Committee noted that following the amendments made to the application (in particular relating to the reduction in the hours applied for) there was no opposition to the application being granted but that further conditions were requested in order to promote the licensing objectives. The Sub-Committee was grateful to the Applicant for indicating that it agreed to the imposition of the further conditions suggested by EHS, HEPA and SEBRA, and the Sub-Committee agreed that the proposed conditions were necessary, proportionate and would promote the licensing objectives. The Sub-Committee considered that the conditions would ensure that the provision of licensable activities would be ancillary to the main function of the premises as a hotel and that the hotel’s bar would not create additional public nuisance in the area. The application therefore accorded with policies HRS1 and HOT1(A).
- The Sub-Committee did not consider it necessary or proportionate to impose a last entry condition for a premises of this type, namely a hotel. The other conditions agreed to were robust and would promote the licensing objectives. Further, the Sub-Committee agreed with the amendment proposed by EHS and decided that it was appropriate and proportionate for a premises of this type for ‘Substantial food’ to be amended to ‘Food’.
- Having carefully considered the committee papers, the additional papers and the submissions made by all parties, both orally and in writing, the Committee therefore 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 Late Night Refreshment Monday to Thursday 23:00 to 23:30, Friday to Saturday 23:00 to 00:00, Sunday N/A
2. To grant permission for Sale by Retail of Alcohol (On Sales) Monday to Thursday 09:00 to 23:00, Friday to Saturday 09:00 to 23:30, Sunday 09:00 to 22:00, Sundays immediately prior to a bank holiday: 09:00 to 23:30. For the sale of alcohol to guests for consumption in hotel/guest rooms only: Monday to Sunday 00:00 to 00:00.
3. To grant permission for the Opening Hours of the Premises Monday to Sunday 00:00 to 00:00.
4. That the Licence is subject to any relevant mandatory conditions.
5. That the Licence is subject to the following conditions imposed by the Committee which are considered appropriate and proportionate to promote the licensing objectives.
6. 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
7. The premises shall install and maintain a comprehensive CCTV system as per the minimum requirements of the Westminster Police Licensing Team. The CCTV system shall continually record whilst the premises is open for licensable activities and during all times when guests (excluding residents) remain on the premises. 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.
8. 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.
9. All exit routes and public areas shall be kept unobstructed, shall have non-slippery and even surfaces, shall be free of trip hazards and shall be clearly signed.
10.The premises licence holder shall ensure that a suitable fire risk assessment and emergency plan is in place at all times, and electrical safety checks completed in accordance with prevailing legislation.
11.Notices shall be prominently displayed at all exits requesting patrons to respect the needs of local residents and businesses and leave the area quietly.
12.All waste shall be properly presented and placed out for collection no earlier than 30 minutes before the scheduled collection times.
13.No waste or recyclable materials, including bottles, shall be moved, removed from or placed in outside areas between 22.00 hours and 08.00 hours on the following days.
14.No deliveries to the premises shall take place between 21:00 and 07:00 hours on the following day.
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.All children (ie under 18s) entering the premises must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
17.All staff shall be trained in their responsibilities under the Licensing Act 2003 and in regards to the terms and conditions of this licence. Such training should include the prevention of sales of alcohol to underage persons and the Challenge 25 scheme in operation at the premises.
18.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.
19. 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.
20. Loudspeakers shall not be located in the entrance and exit of the premises or outside the building.
21. All windows and external doors shall be kept closed after 21:00 hours, or at any time when regulated entertainment takes place, except for the immediate access and egress of persons.
22. A direct telephone number for the manager at the premises shall be publicly available at all times the premises is open. This telephone number is to be made available to residents and businesses in the vicinity.
23. 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.
24. 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.
25. A copy of the premises’ dispersal policy shall be made readily available at the premises for inspection by a police officer and/or an authorised officer of Westminster City Council.
26. 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 drinks or glass containers with them.
27. The approved arrangements at the premises, including means of escape provisions, emergency warning equipment, the electrical installation and mechanical equipment, shall at all material times be maintained in good condition and full working order.
28. The means of escape provided for the premises shall be maintained unobstructed, free of trip hazards, be immediately available and clearly identified in accordance with the plans provided.
29. All emergency doors shall be maintained effectively self closing and not held open other than by an approved device.
30. 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.
31. There will be no external advertisement of alcohol being sold at the premises.
32. Licensable activities authorised by this licence and provided at the Premises shall be ancillary to the main function of the Premises as a hotel.
33. The entrance to the bar shall only be through the main entrance to the hotel.
34. Licensable activities in the basement shall only be provided to persons attending a private, pre-booked event. A register of the private, pre-booked events held in the basement shall be kept at the Premises and made available on request to an authorised officer of the City Council or the Police.
This is the Full Decision of the Licensing Sub-Committee which takes effect forthwith.
The Licensing Sub-Committee
14 March 2024
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Supporting documents:
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Grand Hotel Bellevue_Redacted (Website), item 1.
PDF 2 MB - Restricted enclosure View the reasons why document 1./2 is restricted
- Restricted enclosure View the reasons why document 1./3 is restricted