Agenda, decisions and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 22 June 2023 be submitted to the next meeting of this Committee

None.

Park Sydenham, 277 – 283 Kirkdale, SE26 4QD

Lewisham LBC, Licensing Committee

Application for variation of premises licence

DECISION NOTICE

1.      Park Garage Group Plc (“the Applicant”) has submitted an application for a variation to the premises licence for Park Sydenham, 277 – 283 Kirkdale, SE26 4QD (“the Premises”).

2.      The application seeks authorisation for the following licensable activities:

Supply of Alcohol for consumption OFF the premises

0:00 – 24:00 - Monday

0:00 – 24:00 - Tuesday

0:00 – 24:00 - Wednesday

0:00 – 24:00 - Thursday

0:00 – 24:00 - Friday

0:00 – 24:00 - Saturday

0:00 – 24:00 - Sunday

3.      There was one relevant representation in response to the application, received from a Lewisham Ward Councillor public before the deadline.

4.      The Licensing Committee held a hearing on 6 July 2023 to consider the representation, which related to one of the licensing objectives; the prevention of public nuisance.

5.      It was indicated at the outset that the Objector, Cllr Best was unable to attend the meeting but was substituted by Cllr Curran. The Applicant’s representative queried whether a Regulation 8 notice had been served on the Parties, it was confirmed that had not been done. Given the nature of the objection, the Applicant indicated that she was content to continue provided the representation was confined to the written objection and didn’t extend beyond that.

6.      The Applicant’s representative raised the issue of the five-minute time limit for submissions and asked the Committee to exercise its discretion to extend time. The Committee decided against extending time given the relative straightforward nature of the Application.

7.      The Applicant’s representative set out the basis of the Application. They explained that the Applicants are a responsible operator, located across Lewisham, Bromley and surrounding areas. They manager over 70 forecourts around London, all trading 24 hours licence, with this being the last 24 hours Premises Licence outstanding.

8.      The Applicant is currently trading at the Premises for 19 hours a day with no issues or complaints at this site or any of the other 70+ sites. They indicated that there could be no suggestion that the additional 5 hours will undermine the Licensing Objectives.

9.      The Applicant adopts good working practices and protocols are in place, in addition they provide robust staff training & have CCTV installed across the site.

10.The family run business initially applied for a 24-hour licence back in 2019, however, they agreed to compromise due to concerns from the Licensing Officer in relation to an adjacent licensed premises that was experiencing issues with upholding the Licensing Objectives. This compromise was with the view to applying to vary the licence later.

11.The adjacent licensed premises has subsequently closed.

12.The Applicant has considered representations by the objector which raises concerns with street drinkers. However these had already been addressed and considered as part of the Premises Licence original application in 2019 and the following conditions were already agreed on the licence;

a.      No super-strength beer, lagers  ...  view the full decision text for item 6.

3.1      The Chair welcomed all parties to the Licensing Committee. She introduced those present and outlined the procedure to be followed for the meeting. She then invited the Safer Communities Officer to introduce the application.

            Introduction

3.2     Ms Mullin-Murrell said that this hearing was being held to determine the full variation of a premises licence application made by Park Garage Group plc in relation to Park Sydenham, 277 – 283 Kirkdale, SE26 4QD. She outlined the application.                                                                                                      

3.3      The application for the premises licence had been advertised in accordance with regulations. The last date for receiving representations was the 14 June 2023. During the 28-day consultation period, one objection was received by the licensing authority from a member of the Council. The representation was received within the specified consultation period and were not considered vexatious or frivolous. Further documents had been received from the applicant’s agent and they had been circulated to all parties before the meeting.

3.4      Ms Murrell then outlined the options available to members when making their decision.

3.5      The Chair said that Councillor Best was unable to attend the meeting, and had nominated her co ward member, Councillor Curran, to present the objection. Although the regulation 8 notice had not been received, the Agent agreed that Councillor Curran could make the presentation, as long as any comments were in line with the written representation made by Councillor Best.

Applicant  

3.6      The Agent said that Park Garage Group were an extremely responsible operator. Details of this family run business had been circulated to all parties. They managed over 70 forecourts both locally and nationally. All of them traded 24 hours a day apart from the one at Kirkdale.

3.7      The Agent advised that an application for a 24-hour licence had been made in 2019. The licensing officer at the time had concerns about the night club next door, so the applicants compromised, and agreed not to sell alcohol between the hours of 1am and 6am, even though the forecourt had been operating for 15 years without any issues. In 2020 Park Garage bought more than 30 sites and were too busy to make a further application to vary their licence.

3.8      The application for a 24-hour licence was being made with the support and agreement of the authorities. There had not been evidence of any problems at any of their sites, this was due to robust conditions on the licence, and they reflected the working practices of Park Garage in general.

3.9      The representation referred to concerns about street drinkers. There were conditions on the licence to address this issue. No super strength beers or lagers would be sold above 6% and bottles and cans would only be sold in a minimum pack of 4.

3.10    The application was to sell alcohol for an extra 5 hours. There had not been any problems at the premises. The nightclub that had been of concern to licensing officers had closed for years and was not part of this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.