The Licensing Sub Committee granted a new premises licence for Sainsbury's at Unit 1 & 2 New Festival Quarter, Upper North Street, E14 6FY, allowing alcohol sales from 7 am to 11 pm daily. The committee also granted a new premises licence for Chicken Cottage at 90 Whitechapel High Street, E1 7RA, with significantly reduced hours for late-night refreshment, and refused to consider an application for Fresco La Cucina at 96 Brick Lane due to non-compliance with advertising regulations.

Sainsbury's, Unit 1 & 2 New Festival Quarter, Upper North Street, E14 6FY

The Sub-Committee granted a new premises licence for Sainsbury's at Unit 1 & 2 New Festival Quarter, Upper North Street, E14 6FY. The licence authorises the sale of alcohol for off-premises consumption between 7 am and 11 pm, seven days a week. The premises will be open 24 hours a day. This decision was made subject to mandatory conditions, conditions proposed in the operating schedule, and additional conditions agreed with the police. These additional conditions include requirements for staff training on alcohol sales and refusal procedures, and the maintenance of an incidents register.

The application had received one representation from a local resident, who raised concerns about potential impacts on the licensing objectives of preventing crime and disorder, public safety, preventing public nuisance, and protecting children from harm. The resident's objection, which was considered by the Sub-Committee despite the objector not attending the meeting, cited issues such as anti-social behaviour, drug use, noise from customers, litter, and concerns about groups congregating to drink and smoke.

Mr Robert Botkai, the legal representative for Sainsbury's, argued that there was no evidence to support the resident's concerns and that the Metropolitan Police, who are experts in crime and disorder, had raised no objections. He highlighted that Sainsbury's is a national operator with established policies and standards for managing such issues and that the proposed hours were only a modest extension of the existing licence. The Sub-Committee noted that the premises were already licensed for alcohol sales and that the application sought to align the licensed hours with the store's general trading hours, which is generally supported by the Council's Statement of Licensing Policy¹.

Chicken Cottage, 90 Whitechapel High Street, E1 7RA

The Sub-Committee granted a new premises licence for Chicken Cottage at 90 Whitechapel High Street, E1 7RA, authorising the provision of late-night refreshment. The licence permits operations from 11 pm to 11:30 pm from Sunday to Thursday, and from 11 pm to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. The application had originally sought much later hours, extending to 2 am and 3 am on various days, and was located within the Brick Lane Cumulative Impact Zone (CIZ)².

The application attracted representations from the Licensing Authority, Environmental Health (Noise) Service, and a local resident. Key concerns raised by the objectors included the potential for public nuisance and crime and disorder due to the proposed late hours, noise from customers and delivery drivers, and the premises' location within the CIZ, which has a presumption against granting new licences that could exacerbate existing issues.

During the hearing, the applicant, represented by Reha Chadha, Riman Islam, and Qays Manek, initially sought hours significantly beyond the Council's framework hours. However, following extensive discussion and legal advice regarding the CIZ policy, the applicant agreed to reduce the requested hours to align with the framework hours. This amendment was crucial for the application's success.

The Sub-Committee noted that the original application also included a request for regulated entertainment, which was clarified as background music and therefore not a licensable activity in itself. The applicant's revised proposals included measures such as CCTV, staff training, SIA security deployment on busy nights, and restrictions on stand-up dining after 11 pm.

Ultimately, the Sub-Committee granted the licence with conditions, including robust CCTV requirements, an incident log, restrictions on stand-up dining after 11 pm, limitations on walk-in customers after 11 pm, and specific arrangements for delivery drivers. The original request for regulated entertainment was refused, and certain proposed conditions were deemed ambiguous or unenforceable and were amended or removed.

Fresco La Cucina, 96 Brick Lane, London E1 6RL

The application for a new premises licence for Fresco La Cucina at 96 Brick Lane, London E1 6RL, was deemed invalid and not considered by the Sub-Committee. This decision was made because the applicant, Mr Nurul Islam, failed to comply with statutory advertising requirements, specifically the publication of a notice in a local newspaper. Despite multiple requests from council officers, no evidence of this advertisement was provided. The Sub-Committee, with legal advice, determined that this non-compliance meant the application was not duly made and therefore could not be considered. The applicant was informed that the application would be returned to them to fulfil the necessary duties for a proper application.

Extension of Decision Deadlines

The Sub-Committee agreed to extend the decision deadlines for two applications:

• CTRL ALT Elite London Ltd, 116 Jubilee Street, London E1 3EB
• Wicked Fish, Queens Yard, 43 White Post Lane, London, E9 5EN

These extensions will push the decision deadlines to 31 October 2026.