This meeting was about a single Licensing application for Simmons, a bar on Curtain Road. The applicant, Simmons Shoreditch Limited, requested to vary its licence to allow it to sell alcohol until 4am on Friday and Saturday nights, to remove a restriction on the sale of alcohol on Good Friday and to replace the existing conditions on the licence. There were representations made against the application by PC Amanda Griggs for the Metropolitan Police, Channing Riviere for the Licensing Authority, and 52 other people.

Simmons, 104-108 Curtain Road, London, EC2A 3AH

The applicant requested to vary the licence to:

• Remove the restrictions upon the hours for the sale of alcohol on Good Friday
• Remove all of the current conditions on the licence and replaced with those set out in the report pack
• Extend terminal hours for the following licensable activities and timings:
  • Live Music
    • Standard Hours: Fri 10:00-04:00, Sat 10:00-04:00
    • Non-standard Hours: Christmas Day 12:00 to 15:00 and 19:00 to 22:30. On New Year’s Eve from the end of permitted hours on New Year’s Eve until the start of permitted hours on New Year’s Day.
  • Recorded Music
    • Standard Hours: Fri 10:00-04:00, Sat 10:00-04:00
    • Non-standard Hours: Christmas Day 12:00 to 15:00 and 19:00 to 22:30. On New Year’s Eve from the end of permitted hours on New Year’s Eve until the start of permitted hours on New Year’s Day.
  • Performance of Dance
    • Standard Hours: Fri 10:00-04:00, Sat 10:00-04:00
    • Non-standard Hours: Christmas Day 12:00 to 15:00 and 19:00 to 22:30. On New Year’s Eve from the end of permitted hours on New Year’s Eve until the start of permitted hours on New Year’s Day.
  • Anything of a similar description
    • Standard Hours: Fri 10:00-04:00, Sat 10:00-04:00
    • Non-standard Hours: Christmas Day 12:00 to 15:00 and 19:00 to 22:30. On New Year’s Eve from the end of permitted hours on New Year’s Eve until the start of permitted hours on New Year’s Day.
  • Late Night Refreshment
    • Standard Hours: Fri 23:00-04:00, Sat 23:00-04:00
    • Non-standard Hours: On New Year’s Eve from the end of permitted hours on New Year’s Eve until the start of permitted hours on New Year’s Day.
  • Supply of Alcohol (On and Off premises)
    • Standard Hours: Fri 10:00-04:00, Sat 10:00-04:00
    • Non-standard Hours: Christmas Day 12:00 to 15:00 and 19:00 to 22:30. On New Year’s Eve from the end of permitted hours on New Year’s Eve until the start of permitted hours on New Year’s Day.

A large number of local residents wrote to the council to object. Their objections included the following statements:

• Even 2am, which they have now, is unacceptable.
• It has been well proven by the police time and time again that most of the violence and antisocial behaviour in Shoreditch happens after midnight.
• A 4am license undermines all four of the licensing objectives.
• This is just to help against the current late nights from your local nightclubs.
• Would you tolerate this on your doorstep?
• An extension of trading hours to 4am will undermine the 4 licensing principles prevention of public nuisance prevention of crime and disorder protection of children from harm public safety.
• I am frequently disturbed by people all nights of the week, but especially Thursday to Sunday, drinking alcohol, urinating, fornicating, defecating, parking illegally, playing loud music, taking and dealing drugs, and congregating in large groups.
• Extending licenses until 4am will only make this worse.
• The Cumulative impact of extending the hours to 4am into this already crowded alcohol area will be a recipe for significant Crime andnti Social behaviour.
• The eastern section of Curtain road is a red route dual carriageway, with bars on both sides of the road and drinkers stumbling across this dual carriageway between the cars and buses. Representing a significant risk to Public safety. There is no police coverage at 4am.
• I would like to raise a strong and concerned objection to the extension of the licensing hours to 4am for the following applicant
• We have registered a large amount of disturbance in our immediate area, with tenants assaulted and harassed, the building soiled and littered, even people breaking into lower floor apartments.
• Crazy that this is even being considered for such a terrible venue…
• This extension should not be allowed to proceed – the views of the residents in the area need to be listened to.
• There’s already a fair amount of crime and disorder in the area, and extending the hours is only going to make things worse. I regularly see and hear fights kicking off late at night, and the noise and mess is already a problem for those of us who live nearby. I’m also worried about the safety of the people leaving at 4am – with hardly any police presence on Curtain Road, it feels like an accident waiting to happen.
• The Hackney Cumulative Impact Research Review 2023 showed that Curtain Road is one of the worst areas in the UK for on street partying after venues have closed, extending the Simmons licence to 4am will only add to this. In addition the 4 licencing principles are not met: prevention of public nuisance; prevention of crime and disorder; protection of children from harm; public safety.
• Curtain Road is already from Hackneys own report of 2023, already one of the worst areas in the UK for partying after pubs have closed.
• Curtain Road is already one of the worst areas in the UK for on street partying after venues have closed, extending the Simmons licence to 4am will only add to this.

A number of objectors referred to the council's own research and made the following point:

Overall, in Shoreditch, dispersal at individual level varies enormously from the good to the poor (something that can be worked on in the upcoming night-time strategy), but overall, as a night-time economy destination, it probably has the greatest current retention of patrons and non-patrons post-closure of venues of any UK NTE the researchers have visited

PC Amanda Griggs, in her representation to the council, said:

This premises is situated on Curtain Road, which is located in the heart of Shoreditch, an area saturated with licensed premises. This was well documented in the Cumulative Impact Assessment undertaken last year upon request of Hackney Council. This report comments upon how densely saturated the area is, with particular emphasis on the ‘Shoreditch Triangle. Curtain Road runs through the middle of this triangle. The study shows that this saturation of premises has a negative cumulative impact on the local area and community. This includes littering, urination, vomit, and low level ASB, as well as more serious violent crimes. Another venue opening later into the night extends and increases this impact on local residents and as a result Police have concerns over these later hours.

The Licensing Authority also objected to the application. Channing Riviere, in his representation for the Licensing Authority, said:

The premises is located in a busy part of Shoreditch, the area is well known for its high concentration of licensed premises. A high number of people visit the area to frequent the licensed venues, as a consequence, the area is often subject to problems such as public urination, street drinking, persons suffering from over-intoxication and public disorder.

The report pack says that the Licensing Sub-Committee was scheduled to consider this application after considering the minutes of a previous meeting of the committee (Minutes 29082024 Licensing Sub Committee A). It also says that the Sub-Committee was scheduled to consider a report that includes a summary of the application, details of the representations made by the Metropolitan Police, the Licensing Authority, and members of the public, and a list of conditions that officers recommended be applied to the licence if the Sub-Committee decided to approve it (LSC Report-104-108 Curtain Road 1).

The minutes of the previous meeting do not contain any discussion of this application.

Please note that this article only describes what was scheduled to be discussed at the meeting. It does not describe what was actually said, or whether any decisions were made.