Content

Notification of
decision following a Licensing Panel hearing to determine an
application for a Premises Licence under section 17 of the
Licensing Act 2003
 
PREMISES: The Golf
Rooms, Vantage Building, Great West Road, Brentford TW8 9AG
 
APPLICANT: The
Golf Rooms Group Ltd
 
TAKE NOTICE THAT ON 26 September 2023
following a hearing before the Licensing and General Purposes Sub
Committee (the “Licensing Panel” or
“Panel”), HOUNSLOW COUNCIL, as the Licensing
Authority for the Premises RESOLVED that:
 
the application for
the grant of the Premises Licence for The Golf Rooms, Vantage
Building, Great West Road, Brentford TW8 9AG was GRANTED, in
respect of the following:
 
Supply of Alcohol for
consumption on the Premises
Monday to Sunday
           
08:00 to 01:00
 
Late Night Refreshment -
indoors
Monday to Sunday
           
23:00 to 01:00
 
The Opening Hours of the
Premises
Monday to
Sunday           08:00 to
02:00
 
AND with the
conditions 1 to 6 as set out below:
 
1.   
The Premises shall install and maintain a
comprehensive CCTV system as per the minimum requirements of the
Hounslow Police Licensing Team. All entry and exit points will be
covered enabling frontal identification of every person entering in
any light condition. The CCTV system shall continually record
whilst the Premises are open for licensable activities and during
all times when customers remain on the Premises. All recordings
shall be stored for a minimum period of 31 days with date and time
stamping. Viewing of recordings shall be made available immediately
upon the request of Police or authorised officer throughout the
entire 31-day period.
 
2.   
A staff member from the Premises who is conversant
with the operation of the CCTV system shall be on the Premises at
all times when the Premises are open. 
This staff member must be able to provide a Police or authorised
council officer copies of recent CCTV images or data with the
absolute minimum of delay when requested.
 

3.   
The sale by retail of alcohol, for consumption on
the Premises, shall be made by waiter or waitress service for
patrons located within the individual golf bays and the interactive
darts area.
 

4.    
An incident log shall be kept at the Premises and
made available on request to an authorised officer of the Hounslow
Council or the Police. It must be completed within 24 hours of the
incident and will record the following:
 
(a) all
crimes reported to the venue
(b) all
ejections of patrons
(c) any
complaints received concerning crime and disorder
(d) any
incidents of disorder
(e) all
seizures of drugs or offensive weapons
(f) any
faults in the CCTV system, searching equipment or scanning
equipment
(g) any
refusal of the sale of alcohol
(h) any
visit by a relevant authority or emergency service.
 
 
5.   
Notices shall be prominently displayed at any area
used for smoking requesting patrons to respect the needs of local
residents and use the area quietly.
 
6.   
A Challenge 21 or Challenge 25 proof of age scheme
shall be operated at the Premises where the only acceptable forms
of identification are recognised photographic identification cards,
such as a driving licence, passport or proof of age card with the
PASS (Proof of Age Standards Scheme) Hologram.
 
REASONS:
 
The Panel convened
to determine an application for a Premises Licence for The Golf
Rooms, Vantage Building, Great West Road, Brentford TW8 9AG
(“the Premises”) under the Licensing Act
2003.
 
The application
soughts the following hours for
licensable activities:
 

Supply of Alcohol for consumption on the premises
Monday to Sunday
                
08:00 to 01:00
 
Late
Night Refreshment – indoors
Monday to Sunday
                
23:00 to 01:00
 

Opening Hours
Monday to Sunday
                
08:00 to 02:00
 
The application
included proposed conditions on the licence, which are set out in
Section M of the application shown at Appendix A.
 
The Premises were
not currently licensed and are situated in an area of mixed
commercial and residential properties.
 
The Licensing Panel
carefully considered all the relevant information including:
 
• Written
representations made by all the parties
 
• The
Licensing Act 2003 and the steps appropriate to promote the
Licensing Objectives
 
• The guidance issued
under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003
 
• Hounslow
Council’s licensing policy
 
• The Human Rights
Act 1998
 
As part of the
consultation process the authority received an objection from a
local councillor.  The representations
raised questions about issues concerning public safety and the
prevention of public nuisance.  A copy
of the representation is attached as Appendix D.
 
There was no
representation from the Police, but they had agreed a condition
with the Applicant, which is attached as Appendix E.  The condition agreed with the Police related to
the use and operation of a CCTV system which is included in similar
form to condition 1 and 2 of the conditions proposed by the
Licensing Enforcement Team and set out at Appendix B.  
 
The objections from
the Licensing Enforcement Officer which are set out at Appendix B,
were about public safety, the prevention of public nuisance and the
prevention of crime and disorder.  The
objections from the Licensing Enforcement Officer were withdrawn
after conditions were agreed with the Applicant.
 
The conditions
agreed between Licensing Enforcement Officer and the Applicant were
conditions 1, 2, 7 and 8 of the conditions proposed by the
Licensing Enforcement Team and set out at Appendix B.
 
In addition the
Licensing Enforcement Officer and the Applicant agreed a new
condition 3 which was proposed by the Applicant.  This was to replace condition 3 of the conditions
proposed by the Licensing Enforcement Team in Appendix B and stated
that “The sale by retail of alcohol, for
consumption on the Premises, shall be made by waiter or waitress
service for patrons located within the individual golf bays and the
interactive darts area.”
 
In response to the
Licensing Enforcement Team’s proposed conditions the
Applicant’s representative stated that he considered the
proposed condition 4 to be subject to debate on proportionality and
appropriateness.  Condition 4 is model
condition 49 from Hounslow Council’s Statement of Licensing
Policy.  The Panel considered the
Applicant’s representative’s response to the Licensing
Enforcement Team and the written submissions of the
Applicant’s representative.  The
Panel did not consider that the Applicant had provided any
justification for altering the words of the model condition 49 of
Hounslow Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy in a manner
that would leave what is recorded in the incident log entirely at
the discretion of the Applicant.  The
Panel considered that public safety was one of the Licensing
objectives and in order to achieve this objective it was necessary
to retain the full wording of model condition 49.   
 
 
 
In relation to the
issue of the public safety the Statutory Guidance states that:
 
“2.7         
Licence holders have a responsibility
to ensure the safety of those using their premises, as a part of
their duties under the 2003 Act. This concerns the safety of people
using the relevant premises rather than public health which is
addressed in other legislation. Physical safety includes the
prevention of accidents and injuries and other immediate harms that
can result from alcohol consumption such as unconsciousness or
alcohol poisoning. Conditions relating to public safety may also
promote the crime and disorder objective as noted above. There will
of course be occasions when a public safety condition could
incidentally benefit a person’s health more generally, but it
should not be the purpose of the condition as this would be outside
the licensing authority’s powers (be ultra vires) under the
2003 Act. Conditions should not be imposed on a premises licence or
club premises certificate which relate to cleanliness or
hygiene.
 
2.8 A number of matters
should be considered in relation to public safety. These may
include:
 

• Fire safety;

 
• Ensuring appropriate access for emergency
services such as ambulances;
 
• Good communication with local authorities
and emergency services, for example communications networks with
the police and signing up for local incident alerts (see paragraph
2.4 above);
 
• Ensuring the presence of trained first
aiders on the premises and appropriate first aid kits;
 
• Ensuring the safety of people when leaving
the premises (for example, through the provision of information on
late-night transportation);
 
• Ensuring appropriate and frequent waste
disposal, particularly of glass bottles;
 
• Ensuring appropriate limits on the maximum
capacity of the premises (see paragraphs 2.12-2.13, and Chapter 10;
and
 
• Considering the use of CCTV in and around
the premises (as noted in paragraph 2.3 above, this may also assist
with promoting the crime and disorder objective).
 
……………
 
 
2.10 Licence holders should
make provision to ensure that premises users safely leave their
premises. Measures that may assist include:
• Providing information on the premises of
local taxi companies who can provide safe transportation home;
and
• Ensuring adequate lighting outside the
premises, particularly on paths leading to and from the premises
and in car parks.”
 
The Council’s
Statement of Licensing Policy 2020-2025 (“the
Policy”) states the following:
 
“54. Each of
the four licensing objectives are of equal importance and therefore
each needs to be considered with equal weight.
 
55. The Council
expects applicants to risk assess their proposals and put forward
measures aimed at promoting the licensing objectives.
 
LP2 The Four Licensing
Objectives
 
1. Prevention of Crime and
Disorder
Whether the
proposal includes satisfactory measures to mitigate any risk of the
proposed operation making an unacceptable contribution to levels of
crime and disorder in the locality.
 
2. Public Safety
Whether the
necessary and satisfactory risk assessments have been undertaken,
the management procedures put in place and the relevant
certification produced to demonstrate that the public will be kept
safe both within and in close proximity to the premises.
 
3. Prevention of Public
Nuisance
Whether the
applicant has addressed the potential for nuisance arising from the
characteristics and style of the proposed activity and identified
the appropriate steps to reduce the risk of public nuisance
occurring.
 
4. Protection of Children
from Harm
Whether the
applicant has identified and addressed any risks with the aim of
protecting children from harm when on the premises or in close
proximity to the premises.”
 
The Panel noted
this guidance and the comments in the authority’s Statement
of Licensing Policy and noted the representations from the Ward
Councillor and that the Licensing Enforcement Officer and the
Applicant had agreed conditions to accept that addressed the issues
of public safety, the prevention of crime and disorder and the
prevention of public nuisance.
 
Decision
 
Having taken all
the representations into account, the conditions proposed by the
Licensing Enforcement Team and the Police and the amended
conditions agreed between the Applicant and the Licensing
Enforcement Team, the statutory provisions and the Revised Guidance
issued under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003 and the Policy,
the Panel considered that the application, with the conditions
agreed between the Applicant and the Licensing Enforcement Team and
with the restoring of the wording of condition 4 of the conditions
proposed by the Licensing Enforcement Team, were sufficient to
satisfy the Licensing Panel’s concerns over compliance with
the licensing objectives.
 
The Licensing Panel
therefore decided to GRANT the application, in respect of
the following:
 

Supply of Alcohol for consumption on the premises
Monday to Sunday
                          
08:00 to 01:00
 
Late
Night Refreshment - indoors
Monday to Sunday
                          
23:00 to 01:00
 
The
Opening Hours of the premises
Monday to Sunday
                          
08:00 to 02:00
 
AND with the
additional conditions agreed between the Applicant and the
Licensing Enforcement Team and the amended wording condition 4 by
the Panel:
 
 
1.   
The Premises shall install and maintain a
comprehensive CCTV system as per the minimum requirements of the
Hounslow Police Licensing Team. All entry and exit points will be
covered enabling frontal identification of every person entering in
any light condition. The CCTV system shall continually record
whilst the Premises are open for licensable activities and during
all times when customers remain on the Premises. All recordings
shall be stored for a minimum period of 31 days with date and time
stamping. Viewing of recordings shall be made available immediately
upon the request of Police or authorised officer throughout the
entire 31-day period.
 
2.   
A staff member from the Premises who is conversant
with the operation of the CCTV system shall be on the Premises at
all times when the Premises are open. 
This staff member must be able to provide a Police or authorised
council officer copies of recent CCTV images or data with the
absolute minimum of delay when requested.
 
3.   
The sale by retail of alcohol, for consumption on
the Premises, shall be made by waiter or waitress service for
patrons located within the individual golf bays and the interactive
darts area.
 
4.   
An incident log shall be kept at the Premises and
made available on request to an authorised officer of the Hounslow
Council or the Police. It must be completed within 24 hours of the
incident and will record the following:
 
(a) all
crimes reported to the venue
(b) all
ejections of patrons
(c) any
complaints received concerning crime and disorder
(d) any
incidents of disorder
(e) all
seizures of drugs or offensive weapons
(f) any
faults in the CCTV system, searching equipment or scanning
equipment
(g) any
refusal of the sale of alcohol
(h) any
visit by a relevant authority or emergency service.
 
5.   
Notices shall be prominently displayed at any area
used for smoking requesting patrons to respect the needs of local
resident and use the area quietly.
 
6.   
A Challenge 21 or Challenge 25 proof of age scheme
shall be operated at the Premises where the only acceptable forms
of identification are recognised photographic identification cards,
such as a driving licence, passport of proof of age card with the
PASS (Proof of Age Standards Scheme) Hologram.
 
 
Right to Appeal
 
Any party aggrieved
with the decision of the Licensing Panel on one or more grounds set
out in schedule 5 of Licensing Act 2003 may appeal to the local
Magistrate’s Court within 21 days of notification of this
decision.