The Licensing Sub-Committee (1) of Westminster City Council met on 04 September 2024 and granted three applications for premises licences in Abbey Road, Covent Garden and Maida Vale.

61 Abbey Road, London NW8 0AD

Violette Enterprises Limited applied for a new premises licence to open a deli at 61 Abbey Road, London NW8 0AD. The deli will be open from 07:30 to 23:00 every day, and will sell alcohol for consumption on and off the premises from 07:30 to 22:00.

The application had initially received objections from local residents and the Metropolitan Police and Environmental Health services but all of the objections were withdrawn prior to the meeting after the applicant agreed conditions with them. Some residents had expressed concerns that the deli would be noisy, or lead to anti-social behaviour, or would receive deliveries at anti-social hours.

Tequila Mockingbird, 3-5 Burleigh Street, London WC2E 7PX

Mr Jonathan Bas, the new licence holder of Tequila Mockingbird at 3-5 Burleigh Street, London WC2E 7PX, applied for a variation to the existing premises licence. He asked for:

• An extension of the licensable hours, to allow all licensable activities to take place until 02:00 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
• An extension to the opening hours to 02:30 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
• Several amendments to the conditions of the licence, mostly relating to the number of Security Industry Authority (SIA) door supervisors required at the venue.

The application was opposed by both the Metropolitan Police and Environmental Health services, and also received objections from seven local residents. The application was opposed because the premises are located in the East Covent Garden Special Consideration Zone. Westminster City Council's Special Consideration Zone Policy (SCZ1) discourages the approval of new licensed premises in these zones, which were designated in Westminster City Council's 2020 Cumulative Impact Assessment as being particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of licensed premises.

The objectors were concerned about:

• The impact of the additional hours on the level of noise nuisance late at night.
• The impact of noise from smokers outside the premises.
• The impact of pedicabs waiting for customers outside the premises.
• The applicant's request to reduce the minimum number of SIA door supervisors from 3 to 2.

The Committee granted the application in part, approving the extension of hours and the amendments to the door supervisor conditions. They refused to remove the condition on the licence prohibiting off sales, and refused to amend the condition requiring patrons leaving the premises after 21:00 to not take drinks and glass containers with them. However, the Committee did amend the condition to limit the number of patrons who could leave and re-enter the premises at any one time to 10. The previous condition allowed 15. The Committee also added two new conditions, requiring all the shelves on the Exeter Street side of the premises to be removed, and requiring a SIA door supervisor to be positioned at the entrance of the premises from 21:00 to closing time on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

In making their decision the Committee felt that the application satisfied the Council's Policy PB1 on Public Houses and Bars, which states that:

Applications outside the West End Cumulative Zone will generally be granted subject to:

1. The application meeting the requirements of policies CD1, PS1, PN1 and CH1.
2. The hours for licensable activities being within the council’s Core Hours Policy HRS1.
3. The operation of any delivery services for alcohol and/or latenight refreshment meeting the council’s Ancillary Delivery of Alcohol and/or Late-Night Refreshment Policy DEL1.
4. The applicant has taken account of the Special Consideration Zones policy SCZ1 if the premises are located within a designated zone.
5. The application and operation of the venue meet the definition of a Public House or Bar in Clause D.

The Committee also felt that:

the conditions attached to the licence would alleviate the residents’ concerns and would promote the licencing objectives.

Sainsburys, 207 Shirland Road, London W9 2EX

Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd applied for a new premises licence to open a convenience store at 207 Shirland Road, London W9 2EX. The store will be open from 06:00 to 00:00 every day and will sell alcohol for consumption off the premises from 08:00 to 23:00 from Monday to Saturday, and from 09:00 to 22:30 on Sunday.

The application had received objections from five local residents, who raised concerns about:

• The location being very busy, potentially increasing existing issues with parking, traffic, and anti-social behaviour.
• The number of supermarkets and licensed premises already operating in the area.
• The potential for the new Sainsbury's to cause existing independent businesses and pubs to close.

The Committee decided to grant the application. They felt that Sainsbury's would take appropriate steps to deal with any incidents of nuisance, crime or disorder during the opening hours of the store, even if they occurred outside of the hours when alcohol was being sold.

The Committee also decided to reduce the opening hours from the 24 hours requested in the application to the 06:00 to 00:00 proposed by the applicant during the meeting.

The committee did not record in the minutes their reasons for approving the application, but it is likely that they felt that the application satisfied the Council's Policy SHP1, which states that applications for new shops outside of the West End Cumulative Impact Zone will generally be approved if the application meets all of the other relevant policies.