RESOLVED:  That Councillor Judy Saunders be appointed Chair of the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

This application was withdrawn.

The Chair introduced the panel and outlined the procedure to be followed.

Mr Goutam Ravikrishnan, attending on behalf of the applicant, spoke to outline his application. Mr Ravikrishnan advised that the premises wished to open until 05:00 on 30 December and 31 December 2016, having done so previously over the past 5 years. Mr Ravikrishnan advised that in regards to the polices’ case, he felt that he had not seen any major incidents over the last 2 years, and that there were sufficient security measures in place to deal with any incidents.

The chair clarified with the applicant that the premises had opened until this time previously on New Years Eve, and the applicant advised the premises had also been open until these hours during the Wimbledon Tennis Tournaments, and that permission had been received from the Council for these.

Russ Stevens, Metropolitan Police, asked the applicant if there would be any additional security measures for these hours. The applicant advised they would be happy to hire an additional member of staff, however Guy Bishop, Legal Advisor, advised the Committee that conditions could not be added to the Temporary Event Notice.

Councillor John Sargeant clarified with the Applicant that the dates applied for were as stated in the application, and requested clarification regarding the major incidents that had occurred previously, and how incidents were logged by the premises. The Applicant advised that none of the major incidents were during the New Year period.

Following a question from Councillor Philip Jones, the Applicant advised that the opening hours requested were in relation to sales forecasts.

The Licensing Officer clarified with Mr Ravikrishnan that he had permission to speak on the Applicants’ behalf, and advised the Committee that the Council had agreed the Temporary Event Notice for the premises to open until 05:00 on the same dates in 2015.

Russ Stevens, Metropolitan Police spoke on the reasons why the Police were asking the Committee not to agree the Temporary Event Notice. Russ Stevens listed incidents that had previously occurred in or near to the premises, and advised that by keeping the premises open for longer hours, this would keep people in the area, prolonging the potential for Anti-Social Behaviour, and advised that police cover was already limited on New Years Eve, and there was concern over the strained resources. Mr Stevens advised that following any arrests, police officers would accompany those arrested to the police station and would then be required there to deal with them, which would leave less officers present on the street. Mr Stevens advised that the police were currently negotiating staggering of closures at other premises in the area, especially on New Years Eve due to increased numbers of people travelling back from London to Wimbledon, as well as those already out in the Wimbledon area. Mr Stevens cited an incident previously at Burger King where staff from another nearby premises were required to assist.

The Applicant responded that he felt that the risk was no different  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.