This meeting was about an application for four new premises licences in railway arches on America Street. The Arch Company Properties Limited applied for the licences. They intend to lease the arches to other businesses to operate and have therefore not appointed a designated premises supervisor for any of the arches. There were representations objecting to the applications from the Metropolitan Police, Trading Standards, Environmental Health, the Licensing Authority and members of the public.

Arch 36, 37, 38 and 39 America Street

This application is for four arches, 36, 37, 38 and 39, which are all adjacent to one another on America Street. The applicant has applied for each of these arches to have its own premises licence with identical permitted activities and opening hours:

• Recorded music (indoors):
  • Sunday to Thursday: 08:00 to 23:30
  • Friday and Saturday: 08:00 to 00:30
• Live Music (indoors):
  • Sunday to Thursday: 08:00 to 23:30
  • Friday and Saturday: 08:00 to 00:30
• Late Night Refreshment (indoors and outdoors):
  • Sunday to Thursday: 23:00 to 23:30
  • Friday and Saturday: 23:00 to 00:30
• Sale by retail of alcohol (on and off the premises):
  • Sunday to Thursday: 08:00 to 23:30
  • Friday and Saturday: 08:00 to 00:30
• Opening hours:
  • Sunday to Thursday: 08:00 to 00:00
  • Friday and Saturday: 08:00 to 01:00
• Non standard timings for all licensable activities:
  • From the end of permitted hours on New Years Eve to the start of permitted hours on New Years Day.

All four arches are located within the Borough and Bankside Major Town Centre which has specific recommendations for the closing times of licensed premises. In this area restaurants and cafes are recommended to close at 00:00 Sunday to Thursday and 01:00 Friday and Saturday. Public houses, wine bars and similar drinking establishments are recommended to close at 23:00 Sunday to Thursday and 00:00 Friday and Saturday. Event spaces where the sale of alcohol is included in a range of activities, including meals, are recommended to close at 00:00 Sunday to Thursday and 01:00 Friday and Saturday.

Arch 36 and 37 include plans for outside seating areas in America Street. Arch 38 and 39 do not.

Representations

The Metropolitan Police submitted a representation objecting to the application on the grounds that it will negatively affect the licensing objective of preventing crime and disorder. The representation noted that the applicant has not proposed any conditions to restrict the type of operation in the arches to a restaurant or cafe, and that they have not yet provided an accommodation limit for the arches. The representation noted:

Four new licensed premises potentially operating as vertical drinking establishments in this area would in my opinion have a significant cumulative impact on an area already saturated with licensed premises.

The Police also noted that:

If accommodation limits and style of operation can be confirmed along with suitable conditions for each premises there could be an opportunity to conciliate these applications.

Trading Standards submitted a representation objecting to the applications on the grounds that they may negatively affect the licensing objective of protecting children from harm. The representation asked for additional conditions regarding Challenge 25, staff training on Challenge 25, displaying signage explaining the Challenge 25 policy, and maintaining a refusals log. The representation noted:

If you are happy to accept these conditions then trading standards, as a responsible authority, will be happy to lift the representations made in respect of the application.

Environmental Health submitted a representation regarding Arch 36, 37 and 39 on the grounds that they may negatively affect the licensing objectives. The representation noted that planning permission was recently granted for a change of use for the arches, and that this planning permission included a condition restricting the closing time to 23:00 every day. The representation also noted that Southwark Council's Statement of Licensing Policy recommends that outdoor areas be closed by 22:00 and that drinks should not be permitted outside after 22:00.

The representation requested that the following conditions be included in any licence granted:

• All external areas to be closed to the public by 22:00 except for access and egress.
• No drinks to be permitted in external areas after 22:00.
• 'Amplified music, song or speech shall not be broadcast in external areas at any time.'
• Alcohol sold for off sales to be sold in sealed containers.

The representation concluded:

If the amended hours are agreed to and conditions drafted to reflect the above then EPT would be in a position to conciliate the representation.

The Licensing Authority submitted a representation objecting to the application on the grounds that it will negatively affect all four licensing objectives. The representation noted that the premises are located within the Borough and Bankside Cumulative Impact Area (CIA), and that:

Applications made within specified Cumulative Impact Areas (CIAs) are deemed likely to add to the potential impact the policy is intended to avoid. There is therefore an automatic presumption that such applications will be refused, however each application will be judged on its own merits.

The representation disagreed with the applicant's statement that 'locations are not residential', noting that there are residents living close by, and that the four arches are adjacent to one another, so:

the addition of four new licensed premises allowing for the sale of alcohol, the provision of live and / or recorded music and the provision of late night refreshment, whether within framework hours or not, pose a high risk of increasing the negative cumulative impact of licensed premises within the Borough and Bankside CIA.

The representation therefore requested a reduction in hours and the inclusion of 28 additional conditions to any licence granted.

Councillor David Watson also submitted a representation objecting to all four applications on the grounds that they are located within a Cumulative Impact Policy area and will negatively affect the licensing objectives of preventing crime and disorder, preventing public nuisance and promoting public safety.

There were 13 representations from members of the public objecting to the applications. ¹ The objections all expressed concern that the applications, if granted, will have a negative impact on the four licensing objectives in a variety of ways, including:

• Noise from music and customers late at night.
• Anti-social behaviour from patrons using America Street and the surrounding areas for drinking, smoking and other activities late at night.
• A lack of public toilets in the area will lead to increased urination and defecation in the street.
• An increase in crime and disorder.

Many of the representations noted that the area already has a significant number of licensed premises, that these premises already contribute to noise, anti-social behaviour and crime and disorder, and that these problems would be exacerbated by the granting of these applications.

Some of the objectors noted the proximity of the arches to residential properties, in particular the flats in America House which are located directly across a narrow street from the arches.

The report pack states that none of the representations from responsible authorities or other persons had been conciliated at the time of writing.