Agenda item

In respect of the application made by Krankbrothers for a new Premises Licence for Beckenham Place Park BR3 5BS on the Sunday after the Naked City Festival,to confirm that the Committee made the determination shown below.

In the matter of the application for the new Premises Licence, the Committee has considered the relevant representations made.

The Committee has made the following determination:

With a view to ensuring the promotion of the licensing objectives, in accordance with the provisions of the statutory guidance and the principles of our licensing policy, the application for the new premises licence was GRANTED subject to the conditions outlined in the report which had been agreed between the applicant, Police and Crime, Enforcement and Regulation Service

The Committee has made the following determination:

With a view to ensuring the promotion of the licensing objectives, in accordance with the provisions of the statutory guidance and the principles of our licensing policy, the application for the new premises licence was GRANTED subject to the conditions outlined in the report which had been agreed between the applicant, Police and Crime, Enforcement and Regulation Service

In coming to a determination the Committee considered the following matters;

1.   The Committee noted the representations made by a resident. The applicant is experienced and manages events well. He addresses residents’ concerns particularly with regard to noise. The noise management report produced by Vanguardia was considered to be a well written document.

2.      The Committee noted the concerns of the resident regarding the proposed licensing arrangements for Beckenham Place Park.  He is opposed to a licence being granted annually. This blanket licence approach fails to address specific issues of individual events which occur year on year, particularly technical challenges and would fail to give due and specific consideration to those residents adversely affected.

3.        The Committee noted the presentation made by the Applicant. It had always been his intention to hold a festival on the Sunday after Naked City because it is not financially viable to hold a festival for one day.

4.        The Applicant said that the Festival held in July last year had been successful. There had been few complaints from residents. The main complaint about noise had been addressed. This will continue to be monitored at the next event. A post festival noise management report had been produced and circulated to those residents who had made a representation. The positioning of the stage is important in reducing the level of noise for local residents and this will be an important consideration at any future festivals.

5.        The Committee understood the resident’s reasons for not wanting a licence to be granted for an event that is held annually, and commented upon a similar matter, which occurs on Blackheath, where there happens to be a Premises Licence with an annual event . However, it was generally accepted that there would be full regulated control over the event because it would be strictly organised in advance through the Council’s Events Safety Advisory Group (“ESAG”), monitored through that group and adjustments could and would be directed and made if and when necessary, again  through the ESAG.

6.        Members also received legal advice that the application did not compromise the licensing objectives.

7.        No representations were received from any responsible authorities.

8.        The Committee noted that the applicant agreed to the conditions recommended by the Police and licensing officers and that granting the application would promote the four licensing objectives.

3.1      The Chair welcomed all parties to the meeting of the Licensing Committee. She introduced those present, and outlined the procedure to be followed for the meeting. She then invited the Crime Enforcement and Regulation Manager to introduce the application.

            Crime Enforcement and Regulation (CER) Manager           

3.2      The CER Manager said that members were being asked to consider an application for a new premises licence for a July festival in Zone E at Beckenham Place Park submitted by Krankbrother Ltd. She outlined the activities applied for, which related to live and regulated music, alcohol served on the premises and the times applied for these activities. Representations had been received from three interested persons on the grounds of public nuisance. Conditions had been agreed between the applicant Police and Crime Enforcement and Regulation service to promote the licensing objectives. As a result, no objections had been received from responsible authorities. She outlined the steps available to members when making a decision.

            Applicant

3.3      The Chair invited the Applicant to make his presentation.

3.4      Mr Clancy highlighted the following key points.

·      It was always his intention to hold an event on the Sunday following the July Naked City festival. It was not financially viable to hold one event over the weekend. An event partner with a slightly different profile had been sought.

·      The festival should create minimal disruption because the production will be in situ from the Naked City festival . There will be noise nuisance on the Sunday event, which will be well mitigated by council imposed sound limiters and with sound management by Vanguardia who had been employed as acoustic specialists.

·      There will be very little movement of vehicles over the weekend.

·      The company The Cook Out, were the most likely partner for the event, which is a food led show providing a variety of food traders on site and a focus on Latin music, soul, jazz and afro beat.

·      The event will be family friendly with equal focus on food and music.

·      The July festival was successful last year but was not financially viable because it is expensive to produce such an event.

·      Most of the representations received had been regarding noise pollution at Naked City festival. Management worked closely with the Environmental Health team to agree on balanced sound levels. 75db was the agreed maximum sound limit. The noise management plan was shared with Vanguardia and the noise levels were at least 10db below the agreed level with an average level of 50db. The noise team was sent to two residents’ houses who had complained about noise specifically, and noise measurements were recorded. Residents’ complaints were taken very seriously.

·      In future the applicant intends to ensure that there is an understanding of where the most noise sensitive homes are and will be thinking about these locations when considering the position of the stage and will keep in touch with these residents during the event.

3.5     The Chair invited members to ask questions. During the discussion that followed, the following key points were highlighted:

·      There will be 3 blocks of toilets with 30/40 in each block. 1 toilet per 70 people.

·      The lake was fenced off last year during the event but is not within the event site and customers do not have any access to it. The applicant understood that the Council have a health and safety plan for the lake and take responsibility for safety. He would consider negotiating extra security around the lake area. All safety plans for the festival will be submitted to the Events Safety Advisory Group (ESAG) to be signed off.

·      There will be significant security. The applicant worked closely with the Police last year on the event in July. They had input into the site security plan; four Lewisham Police officers were part of the event liaison for the whole event, working closely with the head of security. They offered invaluable advice regarding anti-terrorism measures, and local gangs in the area. The firm who will manage security next year had not yet been engaged but would be a company with high level experience.

·      Concern was expressed about granting an annual licence because the partner company could change every year. The applicant’s plan was to identify a partner who would deliver a festival on the Sunday after Naked City festival every year. The applicant would be responsible for producing the show and for submitting plans to the ESAG each year. The partner company would have to be highly experienced to ensure that the festival is successful and to protect his premises licence. 

Representation

3.6      The Chair invited the resident to make his presentation.

3.7      Mr Tonge said that his representation was not an objection. The noise management report produced by Vanguardia, as circulated, he considered to be a good piece of work. However, he wished to highlight the following points:

·           He lives within the monitoring area R5, which during the 2019 festival experienced the highest levels of noise.

·           Although the event was very well planned and monitored, there are a lot of factors that are variables, including the staging for an event and acts planned for the event. Sound with low frequency was the most disruptive for residents.

·           The event was held in a dip and the residents in Downham and R5 were most affected by the noise where the land is flat.

·           Although Mr Tonge did not object to having a festival in the park, which he considered to be good for the community, there could be considerable differences to the lay out of the event and the frequencies of the bands involved year on year. He recommended, therefore, that a licence should be granted per event rather than on an annual basis so that due diligence could be applied. He said that there are processes in place for festivals on Blackheath.

3.8      The Chair invited members to ask questions. During the discussion that followed, the following key points were highlighted:

• Weather affects acoustics at an event; if it rains, noise does not travel so far. At the festival last year, there was no significant drop off of numbers attending because of the weather.
• A review was held after the event last year. There was a small number of noise complaints, no serious incident identified and the agreed level of 75 decibels was not exceeded
• Vanguardia produced a noise management report after the event in July. They are an independent company and a noise report will be produced after each individual festival.