This meeting was about the Licensing Sub-Committee considering whether to grant licences for the sale of alcohol. The meeting included the consideration of two applications. Firstly, whether to grant a premises licence for the 4 Corners Music Festival 2025 scheduled to take place on Circus Field, Blackheath in May. Secondly, the meeting included the consideration of the grant of a premises licence for the Asda Express at 15-17 Blackheath Village.

Grant of a Premises Licence for 4 Corners Music Festival 2025

The Licensing Sub-Committee was scheduled to consider an application for a new premises licence for the 4 Corners Music Festival, to take place on 24th and 25th May 2025 at Circus Field, Blackheath. The festival is planned to have a capacity of 4,999 people, and the application sought permission for the sale of alcohol, live music, recorded music, and performances of dance from 12:00pm until 10:00pm on both days.

This application followed a similar event that was held in June 2024. The report pack includes a debrief letter sent to the organisers of that event, Ms Rebecca McLeish and Mr Glenville Butcher, in which the council's licensing officer noted that, though the event was broadly a success, a number of issues were identified that increased the overall risk to the licensing objectives. These included concerns about the competence of the event manager, Ms Tanvi Shashikant Patel, a lack of section 30 consent¹ for the temporary demountable structures, missing signage, the responsiveness of contractors to safety concerns, a barbecue area that was not cordoned off as had been agreed during the Safety Advisory Group (SAG)² meetings, and inconsistent noise management with breaches of the agreed noise limits.

The licensing officer's letter goes on to set out a number of expectations for any future event. These include that any future licence application should be submitted at least 6 months prior to the event, that a qualified event manager with health & safety expertise should be appointed, that all contractors involved should be named in the event management plan, that section 30 consent should be applied for in good time, that food hygiene certificates should be submitted for all vendors, and that any temporary structures should meet safety standards and be erected in accordance with the relevant plans and calculations.

The licensing officer notes that failure to comply with these expectations is likely to result in objections to any future licence application.

The Licensing Authority and the Events and Culture Team submitted representations that do not object to the application outright, but ask for a large number of conditions to be applied to the licence if it were to be granted, in order to promote the four licensing objectives. These are:

• The prevention of crime and disorder • Public safety • The prevention of public nuisance • The protection of children from harm

These include the requirement for the appointment of an appropriately qualified event manager who has attended all of the SAG meetings, the requirement to produce an event safety management plan, a noise management plan, a dispersal policy, and a vulnerable person policy. They ask for conditions on the sale of alcohol, the use of CCTV, the provision of security, the deployment of stewards, the search of attendees, the provision of counter-terrorism training to staff, the management of transport to and from the event, the provision of first aid, and the provision of toilets.

The report pack also includes representations from 11 residents, all of whom expressed concern about the potential for noise nuisance from the event. All of the residents requested to be heard at the meeting. 10 of these representations were opposed to the granting of the licence. One resident, Mr William Lock, asked that the council confer with acoustic specialists and set lower than national limits particularly in the lower frequencies.

Grant of a Premises Licence for Asda Express, 15-17 Blackheath Village, London, SE3 9LH

The Licensing Sub-Committee was also scheduled to consider an application made by Asda Stores Limited for the grant of a new premises licence for the Asda Express at 15-17 Blackheath Village. The application requested permission for the sale of alcohol for consumption off the premises between the hours of 7:00am and 11:00pm, Monday to Sunday.

The report pack notes that 73 representations had been received from local residents and businesses objecting to the application, and five representations supporting the application. The report pack also notes that none of the responsible authorities, including the police, objected to the application. All of the objectors requested to speak at the meeting, as did the applicant.

The objections from local residents and businesses focused on concerns about public nuisance and crime and disorder. The Licensing Officer's report to the committee summarises these concerns.

Citing examples, he mentioned issues of noise from the patrons of the applicant, as well as from delivery vehicles (Uber Eats, Deliveroo, etc.) operating late. He added that the activities of the patrons and delivery vehicles using the premises late at night cause noise disturbances that may impact the sleep of nearby residents, particularly young children.

The report pack includes the minutes from a previous meeting of the Sub-Committee that took place on 3 October 2024, at which the Sub-Committee decided to grant the application. That meeting had been held to consider a much wider application by Asda, which included the sale of alcohol for consumption both on and off the premises, and later opening hours. The decision notice for that application shows that the police had withdrawn their initial objection to the application after Asda agreed to reduce the scope of their application.

The decision notice from the previous meeting includes a summary of the arguments made both for and against the application, and the Sub-Committee's reasons for granting the application. The notice records that the Sub-Committee decided to grant the application subject to a number of conditions aimed at promoting the licensing objectives.

In reaching its decision, the Sub-Committee concluded that the conditions attached to the licence would mitigate and alleviate the residents’ concerns of the parties who had objected and were appropriate, proportionate, enforceable and would have the desired effect of promoting the licensing objectives.

Accordingly, the Sub Committee unanimously;

RESOLVED That the application for a new premises licence for Asda Express, 15-17 Blackheath village, London, SE3 9LH, is GRANTED for the Supply of Alcohol (for consumption off the premises) and Opening Hours, Monday to Sunday from 07:00 hours until 23:00 hours.

The decision notice from the 3 October 2024 meeting includes a list of the conditions that were imposed on the licence, which include requirements for the operation of CCTV, restrictions on the types of alcohol that could be sold, requirements for staff training and the operation of a refusals log, and requirements for the deployment of security personnel.