Decision

Licensing Act 2003

Notice of Decision
 
PREMISES
Royal Lounge
Unit 1-2,
14 Victoria Road
Romford
RM1 2JH
 
APPLICANT
Mr Mentor Spahia
 
Details of requested
licensable activities
The application to vary a premises
licence is made by Mr Mentor Spahia
under section 34 of the Licensing Act 2003.  The application was received by Havering’s
Licensing Authority on 27th January 2025.
 
Introduction
The Licensing
Sub - Committee (“LSC”) has considered an application
for the variation of the premises licence in respect of the Royal
Lounge Restaurant situated at Unit 1-2, 14 Victoria Road, Romford,
RM1 2JH (“the premises”).

 
The current premises licence contains the
following times in respect of the licensable activities of the
Supply of alcohol and Late Night Refreshments:

 
     
Supply of alcohol (on supplies only)
               
 Sunday to Thursday      11:00 to 22:45
              
Friday & Saturday         11:00 to
23:45

Late night refreshment
             
Friday & Saturday          23:00 to
00:00

 
The
current opening hours for the premises are:
             
Sunday to Thursday     
06:00 to 23:00
              
Friday & Saturday         06:00 to
00:00

 
There were 2
amendments to the application. The first amendment was agreed
between the Premise Licence Holder and the council’s Noise
Nuisance Team prior to the hearing and substantially reduced the
licensing hours applied for and set out a number of new conditions
to be applied to the licence. The 2nd amended application was
brought to the attention of the Licensing Sub-Committee during the
hearing and sought only to vary the times for the supply of alcohol
to the following-

 
     
Supply of alcohol (on supplies only)
               
 Sunday to Thursday      11:00 to 22:30
             
 Friday & Saturday
       
11:00 to 00:00
 
The applicant
did not seek any change to the Late Refreshment times. Although the
original application had sought to add the playing of live music on
Fridays & Saturdays between 23:00 to 00:00 this was not pursued
in the 2nd application.

 
There were no
representations from any Responsible Authorities. There was one
objection to the application from Councillor Jane Keane who
addressed the Sub- Committee.
 
Prior to the
Applicant’s submission of the re amended application
Councillor Jane Keane (a ward councillor) raised concerns about the
management of the premises’ trade waste. She stated that the
additional licensing hours would exacerbate anti-social behaviour
in the area. She also mentioned the drug and alcohol problems in
the town centre and doubted that the premises management would
“have the wherewithal” to deal with intoxicated
visitors. The councillor also raised concerns re insufficient
cctv in the alleyway and the side and
rear of the premises. She worried that any evacuation of the
premises would be unsafe. She noted that the proposed additional
time to supply alcohol on Thursday nights, (the first amended
application had requested an additional 1hour, 15 minutes), would
have an adverse effect of school children the following morning. In
addition, the councillor submitted that there was violence against
women and children in some of the area’s residences and she
raised concerns that women would be reluctant to approach the male
staff at the premises.
 
In addition, the
Sub-Committee heard from the Applicant, Mr Mentor Spahia and the Applicant’s licensing agent,
Ms Dilek Alagoz from Kaplan Consulting
UK.
 
At this stage
the Applicant submitted the further amended application with the
proposed licensing hours listed above at paragraph 3 of this
decision notice.
 

Decision
Having
considered the written evidence and the oral submissions made
during the hearing, the Licensing Sub-Committee decided that the
application to vary the licence times as set out above should be
granted with conditions to be added to the licence.

 
Reasons for the Decision
The
Sub-Committee must promote the licensing objectives and must have
regard to the Secretary of State’s National Guidance created
under s182 of the Licensing Act 2003 and the Council’s own
Statement of Licensing Policy. 
 
The premises
is situated in a Cumulative Impact Zone
(“CIZ). There is therefore a rebuttable presumption that the
increased licensing hours will aggravate the problems in the
area.

 
The
Sub-Committee noted that the revised application reduced the hours
for the sale of alcohol by 1.5 hours from Sundays to Thursdays and
increased it by 30 minutes on Friday and Saturday nights. Over an
entire week the sale of alcohol hours would be reduced by 35
minutes. The applicant also no longer sought a licence to play live
music which would reduce the possibility of noise nuisance coming
from the premises.

 
The
Sub-Committee was concerned about the inability of the Premises
Licence Holder to fully set out his understanding of the licensing
objectives and noted Councillor Keane’s concerns. Bearing
this and the concerns raised by Councillor Keane in mind and to
further promote the licensing objectives, the Licensing
Sub-Committee imposed the following conditions on the licence:

Conditions

 
(a)  All
premises’ staff are to undergo training in the “Ask for
Angela” scheme
(b)  Signage about the “Ask for
Angela” scheme is to be placed in the public toilets at the
premises
 (c)  The
contact details for the Premises Licence Holder of the
premises
 (including the PLH’s name and
direct telephone number) shall be        publicly displayed on a prominent sign
at the premises
 (d)  All
staff are to undergo training on the licensing
objectives
 

 
Right of Appeal
 
Any party who has
made a relevant representation may appeal to the Magistrates’
Court within 21 days of notification of the decision.
 
On appeal, the
Magistrates’ Court may:

1.         Dismiss
the appeal; or

2.        
Substitute the decision for another decision which could have been
made by the Sub Committee; or

3.         Remit
the case to the Sub Committee to dispose of it in accordance with
the direction of the Court; and

4.         Make an
order for costs as it sees fit.