This meeting was scheduled to include the consideration of a new Premises Licence application for the Shoreditch Grill on Hackney Road, as well as a variation application for an existing Premises Licence for La Camionera on Well Street in Homerton. The documents do not include any information about what was discussed or decided.

Application to Vary a Licence: La Camionera

The application for La Camionera was submitted by La Camionera Ltd.

The applicant sought permission to:

• Extend the hours for the sale of alcohol, so that the business would be permitted to sell alcohol until 23:30 Sunday to Thursday, and until 00:30 on Fridays and Saturdays. The application stated that: > This would mean selling alcohol until 23:30 Sunday through Thursday (and closing at 00:00) and until 00:30 on Fridays and Saturdays (and closing at 01:00). We hope that stopping alcohol sales half an hour before closing will assist with the gradual and quiet dispersal of customers.
• Remove two existing conditions from their licence:
  • Condition 11, which states: > Internal capacity will be maximum 36 persons, rear patio 8 persons (excluding staff), Well Street seating area maximum 12 persons (subject to shop front/pavement licence).
  • Condition 12, which states: > Patrons shall be seated when consuming alcohol - no person shall be permitted to stand at the bar.
• Change the layout of the premises.

The applicant sought to justify the changes by explaining their plans for the business:

La Camionera is anticipated to operate as a cafe by day and bar by evening and is licensed to sell alcohol and serve food. La Camionera is a LGBTQI+ venue and will operate as a wholly inclusive community-driven space.

The applicant also highlighted the considerable financial support that their plans had already received from the public:

This ethos has been informed by La Camionera's Indiegogo Campaign, which has seen thousands of London residents contribute over £90,000 towards the start-up costs of creating the space.

The application described the premises, and its proximity to residents:

The premises known as La Camionera is located at 243 Well Street, London, E9 6RG, in the London Borough of Hackney. The premises is a single-level unit with an enclosed garden area to the rear accessible only through the interior of the premises itself. The premises fronts the pavement of Well Street. Adjacent are two ground-floor retail units. La Camionera is aware of its proximity and location, which are part of a residential street and strives to become a seamless part of the surrounding community.

The applicant stated their intention to carefully manage the noise their business generates, particularly in the evenings, highlighting their intention to seek accreditation from Hackney Nights:¹

La Camionera has also dedicated time to designing robust policies across various factors, including dispersal and crowd control measures to mitigate any impact on neighbours. Management will actively review these policies and see them as evolving documents, and local residents will be encouraged to provide feedback at all times. [...] We are also on our way to becoming Hackney Nights accredited and have attached our in house policies with the application.

Two representations were received from members of the public objecting to the application, on the grounds of the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance and the protection of children from harm. One resident in particular expressed their concerns about the noise from the venue:

Since La Camionera has commenced trading we have experienced considerably more noise than before. The noise that reaches our apartment sounds like a large group of people having a party and seems to emanate mainly from the garden area at the back of the Premises.

The resident also highlighted that there was no guarantee that the noise would abate as time went on:

La Camionera might argue that this may be a temporary state of affairs because it is new and there is a lot of enthusiasm for its opening. But there is no guarantee that the level of noise will decrease over time. Successful venues in London often have sustained popularity, so a gradual drop off in the number of patrons (and therefore noise) shouldn’t be assumed.

The resident requested that the application be rejected, and that the venue take steps to reduce noise from the garden area, such as:

• Reducing the number of patrons allowed in the garden area at any one time.
• Ensuring patrons are seated at all times.
• Installing sound dampening.

The Licensing Authority also submitted a representation, objecting to the application on the grounds of the prevention of public nuisance.

The Licensing Authority noted the applicant's intention to remove condition 11, that restricted the capacity of the premises, but noted that:

The applicant has provided a capacity management policy that states the capacity of the premises is 36 persons, this raises the question as to why condition 11 should be removed as it already limits the internal capacity of the premises to 36 persons.

The applicant had also described their business as both a bookings-only venue, and a venue that accepted walk-in customers. The Licensing Authority asked for clarification, and asked whether food would be served past 23:00, as no Late Night Refreshment² had been requested.

The Metropolitan Police agreed to remove their objection to the application if an additional condition was added to the licence:

1). The premises shall maintain a comprehensive CCTV system as per the minimum requirements of the Metropolitan Police. All entry and exit points will be covered enabling frontal identification of every person entering in any light condition. The CCTV system shall continually record whilst the premises is open for licensable activities and during all times when customers remain on the premises. All recordings shall be stored for a minimum period of 31 days with date and time stamping. Recordings shall be made available immediately upon the request of Police or authorised officer.

Application for a Premises Licence: Shoreditch Grill

The applicant for Shoreditch Grill was Mr Arif Rafe.

The applicant sought permission to serve late night refreshment from 23:00 to 05:00, Monday to Sunday.

Representations were received from the Police and the Environmental Enforcement team.

The Metropolitan Police objected on the grounds of the prevention of crime and disorder and the prevention of public nuisance. They had witnessed the premises operating after hours:

In addition to this the venue has been seen by the council operating after the licensed hours to sell hot food. These have been on 15/03/2024 at approximately 2330 hours and also on 30/03/2024 at 2325 hours.

They also noted that Shoreditch Grill is located in an area that already has a high concentration of licensed premises, known as a Cumulative Impact Area:³

This premises is located in an area subject to cumulative impact due to a high concentration of licensed and late night venues. Although this venue will not be selling alcohol, it will be dealing with the effects of people who have consumed alcohol over several hours in other venues.

One representation from a local resident was also received, expressing their concerns about crime and disorder, public safety, public nuisance and the protection of children from harm.

The Licensing Authority objected to the application on the grounds of public nuisance, noting that the requested hours were outside the core hours⁴ set out in the council's Statement of Licensing Policy. The applicant's planning permission also stipulated shorter opening hours:

3 - The restaurant use hereby permitted may only be carried out between Monday-Friday and Sunday/Bank holidays 11:00am- 23:00pm and Saturday 11:00pm- 11:59 pm.

The Police and Environmental Enforcement teams requested that a number of conditions be added to the licence should it be granted, including the installation of CCTV, the implementation of a dispersal policy, the appointment of staff with responsibility for ensuring public safety and the proper disposal of waste. These conditions were requested due to concerns about the impact the business would have on crime, disorder and public nuisance in the area.

The report stated that the committee would be able to refuse the application, or approve it subject to any conditions it saw fit to impose in order to promote the four licensing objectives.