The Licensing Sub-Committee was scheduled to consider an application to review the premises licence of the Fox on the Hill pub in Camberwell. The application, submitted by a local resident, raised concerns regarding crime and disorder and public nuisance arising from the pub's operation.

Fox on the Hill

The review application, submitted by a local resident, focused on what they described as continued issues, multiple dates and times relating to the prevention of crime and disorder and the prevention of public nuisance. To quote from the application:

customers leaving the pub and using the our residential grounds to smoke (cigarettes and drugs) to drink after closing time, public urination on residential grounds, and customers of the pub using our residential grounds to park. Various groups exiting the pub to smoke drugs in our residential estates grounds, then returning into the pub, both day and night. ¹

Eight other people submitted representations in support of the review, raising similar concerns.

The Metropolitan Police also submitted a representation which listed a number of crimes recorded at the pub in the previous twelve months, including two assaults and an incident of criminal damage. The police stated that they were unable to link these incidents to the operation of the pub.

J D Wetherspoon PLC, the premises licence holder, responded to the review application, and requested an online meeting with the applicant and other interested parties to discuss the issues raised.

This was not the first time that the pub's licence had been reviewed. In 2014, the licence was modified to include a number of conditions, including limits on the hours of operation of the beer garden and requirements for the pub to provide signage reminding customers to leave quietly.

The meeting was scheduled to consider the review application, the representations received, and the options available to the Sub-Committee under the Licensing Act 2003. These included modifying the conditions of the licence, excluding licensable activities, suspending the licence, or revoking the licence entirely.