The Chair opened the meeting and all parties introduced themselves.

Mr Ruben Osie, representing the Applicant, presented the application for a new Premises Licence to the Licensing Sub-Committee, advising that it comprised supply of alcohol (10.00-23.00 Monday to Saturday and 10.00 -22.30 am on Sundays).  There was no Late Night Refreshment applied for.  As shown in the Supplementary Agenda, a number of conditions had been proposed by the Applicant, which they felt addressed the concerns raised. The Applicant noted that there had been no objections from any responsible authorities.

The Applicant stated that they were responsible operators, who were residents in the community and part of the community and that this would not be a chain, but an independent restaurant run by 3 brothers. The Applicant commented that should there be any concerns once the premises was operational, then there was the option to call to a review.

The Applicant advised that they would require a period of dispersal time to ensure that patrons leaving the premises did so in stages and that this would be after “drinking up time” which would be 20 minutes after the sale of alcohol would stop. The Applicant stated that they had discussed this proposal with the Police who had advised that the dispersal time was seen as best practice to manage dispersal. The Applicant’s Representative stated that he felt there would be greater impact to the surrounding areas if all the patrons in the premises left at the same time.

Members asked for clarification on whether alcohol would be sold without food or with food, to which the Applicant responded that solely drinking would not be encouraged as the ideal would be that patrons would sit and have alcohol with their meal, but that the Applicant would be happy to have a condition to make alcohol ancillary to food.

Leigh Terrafranca, speaking on behalf of WEHRA (Wimbledon East Hillside Residents’ Association) presented her representation to the Committee, advising that the cherished having an old fashioned shopping parade and that this was located in a residential area with many families with young children living nearby. Ms Terrafranca cited the example of another premises in the parade which had a licence until 11pm but closed at 10pm and noted that noise disturbance and cooking smells would be waking nearby residents up in the later hours, and reiterated that she would like the premises to close at 11pm.

Ms Terrafranca asked for clarification on the rear area of the premises, noting that there had previously been issues with noise and abusive language being used in the outdoor areas. The Applicant responded that their business was currently non-operational and therefore such allegations were not related to their premises, noting that there had been no objections from the Police. The Applicant advised that the intention would be that the garden would be used for smokers who could sit outside up to 10.00pm-10.30pm so that they were contained at the rear of the premises rather than the front, to reduce issues with litter. The Applicant mentioned the potential use of a clicker system to enable staff to keep a headcount on use of the rear garden to limit its use.

Ms Terrafranca submitted a short video clip of smoke from an extractor fan at 12-14 Leopold Road which was shown at the meeting. The Applicant advised that the smoke was nothing to do with their currently non-operational premises, and confirmed that they did not run or own the next door premises, reiterating that they were an entirely independent business.

Both parties were invited to sum up. Ms Terrafranca summed up the representation on behalf of WEHRA, advising that they would welcome a quality restaurant, but that they would like to see an 11.00pm closing time, no use of the rear garden, a condition regarding maintenance for the extractor, and a 6:30pm end to movement of commercial waste.

The Applicant stated that matters had been raised that did not relate to their premises, and that they were not responsible for waste collections, but would amend that if required. However they had already accepted the conditions related to waste management as proposed by WEHRA. The Applicant advised that they understood the objections from people that lived in the vicinity, but that the Licence application process had been undertaken correctly.

The Committee retired to make their decision at 14:28.

The Committee reconvened to relay their decision at 15:16 and the Chair closed the meeting at 15:24.

RESOLVED: That the Licence application is granted, subject to the conditions as set out in the Notice of Determination.