Agenda item

Chez Antoinette, The Piazza, Covent Garden

App

No

Ward /

Cumulative

Impact Area

Site Name and Address

Application

Licensing Reference Number

5.

St James’s Ward / West End Cumulative Impact Area

Chez Antoinette, The Piazza, Covent Garden

Variation of a Premises Licence

17/06988/LIPV

 

 

 

 

Minutes:

LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE No. 5

Thursday 31st August 2017

 

Membership:              Councillor Peter Freeman (Chairman), Councillor Julia Alexander and Councillor Murad Gassanly

 

Legal Adviser:             Barry Panto

Policy Adviser:            Chris Wroe

Committee Officer:     Jonathan Deacon

Presenting Officer:  Yolanda Wade

 

Relevant Representations:         Licensing Authority.

 

Present:  Ms Liz Coley (Solicitor, Representing the Applicant), Ms Aurelia Delclos (Owner and Designated Premises Supervisor) and Mr David Sycamore (Licensing Authority).

 

Chez Antoinette, The Piazza, Covent Garden

17/06988/LIPV

 

1.

Conditions being varied, added or removed

 

 

From

 

Condition 14 – All sales of alcohol for consumption off the premises shall be in sealed containers only, and shall not be consumed on the premises.

To

 

Condition 14 – The consumption of alcohol off the premises will be in sealed containers or consumed by persons in the external seating area (shown as hatched on the plan) and in accordance with the requirements of condition 11.

 

 

Amendments to application advised at hearing:

 

 

None.

 

 

 

Decision (including reasons if different from those set out in report):

 

 

The Sub-Committee heard from Ms Coley, representing the Applicant.  She stated that the variation of the premises licence had been applied for in order to provide off sales to diners in an additional external seating area at the French café / restaurant on the lower ground floor of The Piazza.  A current condition on the existing premises licence which the Applicant wished to amend set out that ‘all sales of alcohol for consumption off the premises shall be in sealed containers only, and shall not be consumed on the premises’.  The Applicant had agreed with Environmental Health a proposed condition that off sales were also available for consumption in the new external seating area on the private forecourt and that the alcohol served at the new external seating area would be ancillary to the Council’s model restaurant condition MC66.  Ms Coley referred to the Council’s model restaurant condition, MC66, already applying by way of condition inside the premises building and the existing seating area immediately outside the premises building.

 

Ms Coley clarified that there were currently six covers immediately outside the building which were included in the licensed area on the plans (the overall capacity including the internal area was thirty people).  The Sub-Committee noted that the Applicant had agreed with Environmental Health a second proposed condition that there would be an additional 16 people in the new external seating area on the private forecourt (this was further away from the premises building than the existing seating area). 

 

Ms Coley provided the additional information that the landlord, Capital & Counties Properties PLC (‘CAPCO’) had permitted the Applicant the use of the area for additional external seating.  She also commented that the Applicant had used a full quota of temporary event notices for the new external seating area without any issues being raised and that the premises was not open for the full hours permitted on its licence throughout the week.  It was open until 20:00 on a Sunday, 21:00 Monday to Thursday and 23:00 on a Friday and Saturday.

 

Ms Delclos confirmed that she had been running the premises since 2014 and also that alcohol would be ancillary to a substantial table meal in the additional external area.  She advised that alcohol was approximately 10% of revenue.  She owned and managed the business and there had been no issues at the premises, including in relation to alcohol being sold there. 

 

The Sub-Committee was addressed by Mr Sycamore on behalf of the Licensing Authority.  He said that he had no specific objection to the nature of the operation.  However, he maintained his representation on policy grounds as there would be an additional sixteen customers in the West End Cumulative Impact Area in the event the application was granted.

 

The Sub-Committee decided to grant the application.  The Sub-Committee considered that the application would promote the licensing objectives.  The Applicant had agreed a proposed condition with Environmental Health that alcohol sales at the new external seating area would be ancillary to a substantial table meal.  The area would be an extension of the restaurant where customers were seated and served by waiter or waitress.  Chez Antoinette was believed to be well run.  Members noted that there had been no representation from the Police, Environmental Health had withdrawn their representation following the Applicant having agreed their proposed conditions and the Licensing Authority did not have specific concerns about the nature of the operation.  The Responsible Authorities therefore were also not of the view that there was the risk of the licensing objectives being undermined.  There had been no residential representations objecting to the application.

 

Members also took into account that the Applicant was not seeking to extend the opening hours at the café/restaurant and was not retaining customers in the West End Cumulative Impact Area late into the evening.  The hours would remain within the Council’s Core Hours policy and were an hour less than Core Hours on Friday and Saturday evenings.  All external tables and chairs would be rendered unusable by 23:00.

 

The Sub-Committee replaced Condition 14 on the existing premises licence with the new condition agreed between Environmental Health and the Applicant relating to off sales being sold in the new external seating area and also replaced the existing Condition 21 with the updated capacity condition agreed between Environmental Health and the Applicant.

 

 

 

 

 

Conditions attached to the Licence

Mandatory Conditions

 

1.         No supply of alcohol may be made at a time when there is no designated premises supervisor in respect of this licence.

 

2.         No supply of alcohol may be made at a time when the designated premises supervisor does not hold a personal licence or the personal licence is suspended.

 

3.         Every supply of alcohol under this licence must be made or authorised by a person who holds a personal licence.

 

4.        (1)         The responsible person must ensure that staff on relevant premises do not carry out, arrange or participate in any irresponsible promotions in relation to the premises.

 

(2)        In this paragraph, an irresponsible promotion means any one or more of the following activities, or substantially similar activities, carried on for the purpose of encouraging the sale or supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises—

 

(a)        games or other activities which require or encourage, or are designed to require or encourage, individuals to;

 

(i)         drink a quantity of alcohol within a time limit (other than to drink alcohol sold or supplied on the premises before the cessation of the period in which the responsible person is authorised to sell or supply alcohol), or

(ii)        drink as much alcohol as possible (whether within a time limit or otherwise);

 

(b)        provision of unlimited or unspecified quantities of alcohol free or for a fixed or discounted fee to the public or to a group defined by a particular characteristic in a manner which carries a significant risk of undermining a licensing objective;

 

(c)        provision of free or discounted alcohol or any other thing as a prize to encourage or reward the purchase and consumption of alcohol over a period of 24 hours or less in a manner which carries a significant risk of undermining a licensing objective;

 

(d)        selling or supplying alcohol in association with promotional posters or flyers on, or in the vicinity of, the premises which can reasonably be considered to condone, encourage or glamorise anti-social behaviour or to refer to the effects of drunkenness in any favourable manner;

 

 (e)       dispensing alcohol directly by one person into the mouth of another (other than where that other person is unable to drink without assistance by reason of a disability).

 

5.         The responsible person must ensure that free potable water is provided on request to customers where it is reasonably available.

 

6.          (1)       The premises licence holder or club premises certificate holder must ensure that an age verification policy is adopted in respect of the premises in relation to the sale or supply of alcohol.

 

(2)        The designated premises supervisor in relation to the premises licence must ensure that the supply of alcohol at the premises is carried on in accordance with the age verification policy.

 

(3)        The policy must require individuals who appear to the responsible person to be under 18 years of age (or such older age as may be specified in the policy) to produce on request, before being served alcohol, identification bearing their photograph, date of birth and either—

 (a)       a holographic mark, or

 (b)       an ultraviolet feature.

 

7.         The responsible person must ensure that—

(a)        where any of the following alcoholic drinks is sold or supplied for consumption on the premises (other than alcoholic drinks sold or supplied having been made up in advance ready for sale or supply in a securely closed container) it is available to customers in the following measures—

            (i)         beer or cider: ½ pint;  

(ii)        gin, rum, vodka or whisky: 25 ml or 35 ml; and

                        (iii)       still wine in a glass: 125 ml;

 

(b)        these measures are displayed in a menu, price list or other printed material which is available to customers on the premises; and

 

(c)        where a customer does not in relation to a sale of alcohol specify the quantity of alcohol to be sold, the customer is made aware that these measures are available.

 

A responsible person in relation to a licensed premises means the holder of the premise licence in respect of the premises, the designated premises supervisor (if any) or any individual aged 18 or over who is authorised by either the licence holder or designated premises supervisor.  For premises with a club premises certificate, any member or officer of the club present on the premises in a capacity that which enables him to prevent the supply of alcohol.

 

8(i)       A relevant person shall ensure that no alcohol is sold or supplied for consumption on or off the premises for a price which is less than the permitted price.

 

8(ii)      For the purposes of the condition set out in paragraph 8(i) above -

 

(a)        "duty" is to be construed in accordance with the Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979;

 

(b)        "permitted price" is the price found by applying the formula -

 

P = D+(DxV)

 

Where -

           

(i)         P is the permitted price,

(ii)        D is the amount of duty chargeable in relation to the alcohol as if the duty     were charged on the date of the sale or supply of the alcohol, and

(iii)       V is the rate of value added tax chargeable in relation to the alcohol as if the value added tax were charged on the date of the sale or supply of the alcohol;

 

(c)        "relevant person" means, in relation to premises in respect of which there is in force a premises licence -

                       

(i)         the holder of the premises licence,

(ii)        the designated premises supervisor (if any) in respect of such a licence, or

(iii)       the personal licence holder who makes or authorises a supply of    alcohol under such a licence;

 

(d)        "relevant person" means, in relation to premises in respect of which there is in force a club premises certificate, any member or officer of the club present on the premises in a capacity which enables the member or officer to prevent the supply in question; and

 

(e)        "value added tax" means value added tax charged in accordance with the Value Added Tax Act 1994.

 

8(iii).    Where the permitted price given by Paragraph 8(ii)(b) above would (apart from this paragraph) not be a whole number of pennies, the price given by that sub-paragraph shall be taken to be the price actually given by that sub-paragraph rounded up to the nearest penny.

 

8(iv).   (1)        Sub-paragraph 8(iv)(2) below applies where the permitted price given by Paragraph 8(ii)(b) above on a day ("the first day") would be different from the permitted price on the next day ("the second day") as a result of a change to the rate of duty or value added tax.

(2)        The permitted price which would apply on the first day applies to sales or supplies of alcohol which take place before the expiry of the period of 14 days beginning on the second day.

 

Additional Conditions

 

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 is open for licensable activities and during all times when customers 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 preceding 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, (ii) where the supply of alcohol is by waiter or waitress service only, (iii) which provide food in the form of table meals that are prepared on the premises and are served and consumed at the table using non disposable crockery, (v) do not provide any take away service of food or drink after 23.00, and (vi) where alcohol shall not be sold, supplied, or consumed on the premises otherwise than to persons who are seated in the premises and bona fide taking table meals there and provided always that the consumption of alcohol by such persons is ancillary to taking such meals.

 

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

 

12.          A Challenge 21 proof of age scheme will 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.          There shall be no self service of alcohol.

 

14.          The consumption of alcohol off the premises will be in sealed containers or consumed by persons in the external seating area (shown as hatched on the plan) and in accordance with the requirements of condition 11.

 

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, which 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) any faults in the CCTV system

(f) any refusal of the sale of alcohol

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

 

16.          When regulated entertainment takes place all external doors and windows to be kept closed save for immediate access and egress of persons.

 

17.          No noise shall emanate from the premises nor vibration be transmitted through the structure of the premises which gives rise to a nuisance.

 

18.          Clearly legible notices shall be displayed at all exits from the premises requesting patrons to respect the needs of local residents and to leave the premises and area quietly.

 

19.          During the hours of operation 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 the aforementioned 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.

 

20.          All external tables and chairs shall be rendered unusable after 23.00 hours Monday to Sunday.

 

21.          The number of persons accommodated at any one time (excluding staff) shall not exceed 24 persons internally, 6 persons immediately outside the premises and 16 persons in the hatched area for off sales.

 

22.         WC facilities shall be available on the lower floor of The Piazza for customer use, free of charge, at all times when the premises is open for business.

 

 

Supporting documents: