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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Rooms 18.01 & 18.03, 18th Floor, 64 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 6QP. View directions

Contact: Kisi Smith-Charlemagne, Senior Committee and Governance Officer  Email:  kscharlemagne@westminster.gov.uk Tel: 020 7641 2783

Items
No. Item

1.

Membership

To report any changes to the membership.

Minutes:

1.1       There were no changes to the membership.

2.

Declarations of Interest

To receive declarations by Members and Officers of any personal or prejudicial interests in matters on this agenda.

Minutes:

2.1       Councillor Angela Harvey declared that she had sat on the Sub-Committee that had considered a previous application for these premises, however, that would not prevent her from dealing with this matter with an open mind.

1.

Bvlgari Hotel, 171 Knightsbridge, London, SW7 1DW pdf icon PDF 1 MB

App

No

Ward /

Cumulative Impact Area

Site Name and Address

Application

Licensing Reference Number

1.

Knightsbridge Ward/ not in Cumulative Impact Area

Bvlgari Hotel, 171 Knightsbridge, London, SW7 1DW

Premises Licence

Variation

18/14405/LIPV

 

Minutes:

LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE No. 1

Thursday 11th April 2019

 

Membership:            Councillor Angela Harvey (Chairman), Councillor Jacqui Wilkinson and Councillor Aicha Less.

 

Legal Adviser:           Horatio Chance

Committee Officer:   Toby Howes

Presenting Officer:   Kevin Jackaman

 

Relevant Representations: Environmental Health, Knightsbridge Association and Winkworth Sherwood on behalf of the Knightsbridge Residents Management Company Limited.

 

Present:  Jeremy Bark (Solicitor, representing the Applicant), Costas Faltous (Applicant Representative), Dave Nevitt (Environmental Health), Melville Haggard (Knightsbridge Association) and Robert Boktai (Winkworth Sherwood on behalf of the Knightsbridge Residents Management Company Limited).

 

 

Bvlgari Hotel, 171 Knightsbridge, London, SW7 1DW (“The Premises”)

18/14405/LIPV

 

1.

Playing of recorded music

 

 

Current

 

Monday to Saturday: 07:00 to 00:00

Sunday: 07:00 to 23:00

 

Licensable Area: Ground floor bar

 

Proposed

 

Monday to Saturday: 07:00 to 01:00

Sunday: 07:00 to 23:00 (no change)

 

Basement floor bar

 

 

Amendments to application advised at hearing:

 

None.

 

 

 

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

 

The Chairman noted that a number of additional papers had been submitted by the Applicant just prior to the meeting and sought the agreement of all other interested parties present that they would accept these to be taken into consideration by the Sub-Committee in its determination of the matter. Dave Nevitt (Environmental Health), Melville Haggard (Knightsbridge Association) and Robert Boktai (Winkworth Sherwood on behalf of the Knightsbridge Residents Management Company Limited) all confirmed their acceptance of these papers respectively.

 

Jeremy Bark (Solicitor, representing the Applicant) stated that the rationale for the variation application was to move the hotel’s ground floor bar to the basement where the hotel restaurant was currently located. The restaurant would be duly moved to the ground floor of the Premises. There would be potential for customers to stand whilst consuming alcohol in the area marked hatched on the plans in the proposed basement bar, however customers would be encouraged to be seated. At the entrance of the Premises, staff would direct customers to the ground floor restaurant or the basement bar accordingly. Mr Bark informed the Sub-Committee that the Premises was undergoing a substantial refurbishment. He then referred to an additional paper circulated that included further amendments to proposed conditions 30 to 39 in the report, following Mr Boktai’s response to them.

 

At this point Mr Boktai advised that he had not seen these further amended conditions.

 

The Sub-Committee then agreed to the Chairman’s suggestion that there should be a short adjournment whilst the Applicant and all interested parties had the opportunity to discuss amongst themselves the most recently proposed conditions before re-commencing the hearing.

 

Upon resumption of the hearing, Melville Haggard (Knightsbridge Association) indicated that he was satisfied with the proposed conditions following discussions and formally withdrew his representation on behalf of the Knightsbridge Association and at that point with the consent of the Sub-Committee Mr Haggard left the hearing

 

Mr Bark then referred to proposed conditions 30 to 39 on pages 37 and 38 of the additional papers circulated. Mr Bark stated that proposed condition 34 which stated that “The supply of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.

2.

ME Hotel, 335 Strand, London, WC2R 1HA pdf icon PDF 2 MB

App

No

Ward /

Cumulative Impact Area

Site Name and Address

Application

Licensing Reference Number

2.

St James’s Ward/ Not in Cumulative Impact Area

ME Hotel 335 Strand London WC2R 1HA

Premises Licence

Variation

19/01701/LIPV

 

Minutes:

LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE No. 1

Thursday 11th April 2019

 

Membership:            Councillor Angela Harvey (Chairman), Councillor Jacqui Wilkinson and Councillor Aicha Less.

 

Legal Adviser:           Horatio Chance

Committee Officer:   Toby Howes

Presenting Officer:   Kevin Jackaman

 

Relevant Representations: Environmental Health and 1 local resident

 

Present:  Craig Baylis (Solicitor, representing the Applicant), Mr Allen (Food and Beverage Director, Applicant Company) and Ian Watson (Environmental Health).

 

Declarations of Interest: Councillor Angela Harvey declared that she had sat on the Sub-Committee that had considered a previous application for these premises, however, that would not prevent her from dealing with this matter with an open mind.

 

 

ME Hotel, 335 Strand, London, WC2R 1HA (“The Premises”)

19/01701/LIPV

 

1.

Variation of Condition

 

 

Condition 32

Proposed variation

After 22:30 the area marked Terrace 1 (shown hatched on the plan) on the licence plan shall not be used except:

 

a. On Thursday to Saturday until midnight after which it shall be cleared of all patrons;

b. In an emergency at any time; and

c. For access to and from the Penthouse Suite at any time

 

After 22.30 the area marked Terrace 1 on the licence plan shall not be used except

a.   On Monday to Saturday until midnight (in the blue hatched area) after which it shall be cleared of all patrons

b.    On Monday to Saturday until 01.00 hours (in the red cross hatched area) after which it shall be cleared of all patrons

c.    In an emergency at any time

d.    For access to and from the Penthouse Suite at any time"

 

 

 

 

Amendments to application advised at hearing:

 

None.

 

 

 

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

 

Kevin Jackaman (Presenting Officer) confirmed that the Police had withdrawn their representation, following the agreement of conditions with the Applicant.

 

Craig Baylis (Solicitor, representing the Applicant) began by confirming on behalf of the Applicant that they were content to proceed with the hearing in the knowledge that Councillor Angela Harvey had declared that she had sat on a Sub-Committee that had considered a previous application for these Premises. Mr Baylis informed the Sub-Committee that a site visit had been conducted between the Applicant and Ian Watson from Environmental Health. The Applicant had not received any complaints in recent history, either from local residents or the landlord. There were no contact details for the resident who had made a representation and so the Applicant had been unable to engage with them to discuss the issues they had raised. Mr Baylis stated the Premises had been the subject of complaints from residents in the past, primarily concerning noise from the terrace. This had led to a review hearing taking place, where a number of conditions were added to the premises licence, including reducing the terminal hour for the use of the terrace from 03:00 hours to 22:30 hours.

 

Mr Baylis informed the Sub-Committee that a number of changes to the operation of the Premises were made last year, including that all customers would now be seated in the terrace area and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

3.

3 Norris Street, London, SW1Y 4RJ pdf icon PDF 1 MB

App

No

Ward /

Cumulative Impact Area

Site Name and Address

Application

Licensing Reference Number

3.

St James’s Ward/ Not in Cumulative Impact Area

3 Norris Street London SW1Y 4RJ

New Premises Licence

19/01287/LIPN

 

Minutes:

LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE No. 1

Thursday 11th April 2019

 

Membership:            Councillor Angela Harvey (Chairman), Councillor Jacqui Wilkinson and Councillor Aicha Less.

 

Legal Adviser:           Horatio Chance

Committee Officer:   Toby Howes

Presenting Officer:   Kevin Jackaman

 

Relevant Representations: Environmental Health and the Licensing Authority.

 

Present:  Craig Baylis (Solicitor, representing the Applicant), Sarah Claridge (Asset Manager, Applicant Company), Dave Nevitt (Environmental Health) and Daisy Gadd (Licensing Authority).

 

 

3 Norris Street, London, SW1Y 4RJ (“The Premises”)

19/01287/LIPN

 

1.

Late night refreshment

 

 

Monday to Thursday: 23:00 to 23:30

Friday and Saturday: 23:00 to 00:00

 

Seasonal variations/non-standard timings: From start time on New Year’s Eve to the finish time on New Year’s Day.

 

 

 

Amendments to application advised at hearing:

 

None.

 

 

 

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

 

At the start of the hearing, the Sub-Committee agreed to Craig Baylis’s (Solicitor, representing the Applicant) request that this application be considered simultaneously with item 4 on the agenda (Basement and Ground Floor, 69/71 Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4RW) as both  applications were closely linked with each other and were from the same Applicant.

 

Mr Baylis began by stating that the Applicant was taking stock of the large number of licenced premises it had, with many of these had licences predating 2005 and had therefore been in existence before the Licensing Act 2003 had come into effect. The Applicant had taken pre-application advice from Environmental Health and had held two meetings with them and two pre-application reports had been produced. It was submitted that the Applicant was seeking to swap the use of 3 Norris Street with 69/’71 Haymarket so that 3 Norris Street became a bar and 69/71 Haymarket a restaurant. Mr Baylis stated that in the case of 3 Norris Street, the Applicant wished to increase footfall in the area and as there were already a number of restaurants at this location, it was felt that a bar would create more choice for customers and attract more people in the area.  As the St James’s redevelopment was around the corner from the Premises, customers coming to this area after the redevelopment was complete would also welcome the wider choice that would be offered by the presence of a bar. The application was within core hours and a number of conditions were proposed, including that substantial food will be available throughout the Premises at all times and conditions relating to capacity. Mr Baylis added that the Premises would operate as a high end, food driven public house. Mr Baylis acknowledged that the Premises was located in a cumulative impact area and he referred to paragraph 2.4.6 which set out exceptions to the City Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy which he felt applied in this case.

 

Turning to 69/71 Haymarket, Mr Baylis stated that the Premises currently had a pre Licensing Act 2003 licence that allowed for vertical drinking and it had no capacity limit. The application proposed to change the use of the Premises to a restaurant with all the standard conditions that would apply to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Basement and ground Floor, 69 - 71 Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4RW pdf icon PDF 2 MB

App

No

Ward /

Cumulative Impact Area

Site Name and Address

Application

Licensing Reference Number

4.

St James’s Ward/ West End Cumulative Impact Area

Basement and ground Floor 69-71 Haymarket London SW1Y 4RW

New Premises Licence

19/01305/LIPN

 

Minutes:

LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE No. 1

Thursday 11th April 2019

 

Membership:            Councillor Angela Harvey (Chairman), Councillor Jacqui Wilkinson and Councillor Aicha Less.

 

Legal Adviser:           Horatio Chance

Committee Officer:   Toby Howes

Presenting Officer:   Kevin Jackaman

 

Relevant Representations: Environmental Health and the Licensing Authority.

 

Present:  Craig Baylis (Solicitor, representing the Applicant), Sarah Claridge (Asset Manager, Applicant Company), Dave Nevitt (Environmental Health) and Daisy Gadd (Licensing Authority).

 

 

Basement and Ground Floor, 69/71 Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4RW (“The Premises”)

19/01305/LIPN

 

1.

Sale  by retail of alcohol (on and off sales)

 

 

Monday to Thursday: 10:00 to 23:30

Friday and Saturday: 10:00 to 00:00

Sunday: 12:00 to 22:30

 

Seasonal variations/non-standard timings: From start time on New Year’s Eve to the finish time on New Year’s Day.

 

 

 

Amendments to application advised at hearing:

 

None.

 

 

 

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

 

Kevin Jackaman confirmed that the Police had withdrawn their representation following agreement of conditions with the Applicant.

 

At the start of the hearing, the Sub-Committee agreed to Craig Baylis’s (Solicitor, representing the Applicant) request that this application be considered simultaneously with item 3 on the agenda (3 Norris Street, London, SW1Y 4RJ) as both  applications were closely linked with each other and were from the same Applicant.

 

Mr Baylis began by stating that the Applicant was taking stock of the large number of licenced premises it had, with many of these had licences predating 2005 and had therefore been in existence before the Licensing Act 2003 had come into effect. It was stated that the Applicant had taken pre-application advice from Environmental Health and had held two meetings with them and two pre-application reports had been produced. Effectively, the Applicant was seeking to swap the use of 3 Norris Street with 69/’71 Haymarket so that 3 Norris Street became a bar and 69/71 Haymarket a restaurant. Mr Baylis stated that in the case of 3 Norris Street, the Applicant wished to increase footfall in the area and as there were already a number of restaurants at this location, it was felt that a bar would create more choice for customers and attract more people in the area.  As the St James’s redevelopment was around the corner from the Premises, customers coming to this area after the redevelopment was complete would also welcome the wider choice that would be offered by the presence of a bar. The application was within core hours and a number of conditions were proposed, including that substantial food will be available throughout the premises at all times and conditions relating to capacity. Mr Baylis added that the premises would operate as a high end, food driven public house. Mr Baylis acknowledged that the Premises was located in a cumulative impact area and he referred to paragraph 2.4.6 which set out exceptions to the City Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy which he felt applied in this case.

 

Turning to 69/71 Haymarket, Mr Baylis stated that the Premises currently had a pre Licensing Act 2003 licence that allowed for vertical drinking  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

47 - 49 Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0AN pdf icon PDF 2 MB

App

No

Ward /

Cumulative Impact Area

Site Name and Address

Application

Licensing Reference Number

5.

St James’s Ward/ West End Cumulative Impact Area

47 - 49 Charing Cross Road London WC2H 0AN

New Premises Licence

19/00948/LIPN

 

Minutes:

LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE No. 1

Thursday 11th April 2019

 

Membership:            Councillor Angela Harvey (Chairman), Councillor Jacqui Wilkinson and Councillor Aicha Less.

 

Legal Adviser:           Horatio Chance

Committee Officer:   Toby Howes

Presenting Officer:   Kevin Jackaman

 

Relevant Representations: Licensing Authority.

 

Present:  Alun Thomas (Solicitor, representing the Applicant), Andy Hing (Asset Manager, Applicant) and Daisy Gadd (Licensing Authority).

 

 

 

  47 - 49 Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0AN (“The Premises”)

19/00948/LIPN

 

1.

Late night refreshment

 

 

Monday to Thursday: 23:00 to 23:30

Friday and Saturday: 23:00 to 00:00

 

Seasonal variations/non-standard timings: From start time on New Year’s Eve to the finish time on New Year’s Day.

 

 

 

Amendments to application advised at hearing:

 

None.

 

 

 

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

 

Alun Thomas (Solicitor, representing the Applicant) began by stating that the Applicant, Shaftesbury, was a landlord who made every effort to ensure that quality tenants occupied their properties, as in line with the City Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy. The Applicant had not had any tenants who had been subject of a review of their premises licence. Mr Thomas advised that the Applicant was currently seeking a tenant for these Premises. A high end Swedish deli operated opposite the Premises. With regard to capacity, Mr Thomas stated that the upper floor would be around 120 persons, the ground floor around 80 to 90 persons and the basement around 20 to 30 persons. He referred to the plans and highlighted where a ‘holding bar’ would be which would be fully seated. The Sub-Committee heard that the Premises had held a premises licence in the past, but this had lapsed three years ago and there was already existing planning permission for a restaurant. Mr Thomas acknowledged that the Premises was located in a cumulative impact area (CIA) and although the application went 30 minutes beyond the terminal core hour from Sunday to Thursday, the hours applied for matched what was permitted under the planning permission and the hours on Friday and Saturday were within core hours. Mr Thomas contended that the application could not add to cumulative impact in the CIA as it was not applying for a new use and the full restaurant model condition was proposed. Policy RNT2 also recognised that restaurants had a low association with crime and disorder therefore were unlikely to add to cumulative impact. As such, Mr Thomas therefore felt that the Applicant did not need to demonstrate an exception to Policy. The Sub-Committee noted that the upper floor had been ancillary to the restaurant and the Premises had been open until 23:30 hours under the previous operator.

 

Mr Thomas felt that as the Premises was located along a busy road near Leicester Square tube station at the edge of China Town, that the proposals and the hours applied for were highly appropriate and policy HRS1 recognised that applications for restaurant use should be dealt with on the merits of each individual case. Most licenced premises in the area remained open until at least 00:00 hours and some  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.