The Licensing Sub Committee approved an application for a new premises licence for All Points East in Victoria Park. They also agreed to extend the deadline for decisions on applications relating to three other premises.

All Points East, Victoria Park

AEG Presents Ltd applied for a new premises licence to hold events, including the annual All Points East music festival, in Victoria Park.

The application was approved, despite objections from two local residents who complained about noise and the impact on traffic during the festival.

Mr Simon Taylor, representing AEG, said that there were already numerous conditions in place to mitigate the impact of the event on local people, and that these had been successful in reducing complaints in recent years. He also said that AEG planned to begin planning for the 2024 event straight away, and that the issues raised by residents would be considered as part of that process.

Noise

Mr Tony Joyce, a resident, objected to the application on the grounds of noise. He said that the noise from the festival was so loud that he was often unable to hear his television or radio, even with headphones on.

I actually feel sick sometimes living in there. Last year I had to go and book into a hotel so I could get one day's rest. I'm a pensioner, so I can't really afford to do that very often.

Mr Joyce said that he had previously complained to the council about the noise, but had given up because he felt that nothing would be done. He said that he believed that other residents felt the same way, and that this was the reason why the council had received relatively few complaints about the event in recent years.

The Sub-Committee acknowledged that the event did cause a nuisance to some local residents.

The Sub-Committee certainly does have sympathy for those residents of the borough for whom events such as these are not welcome and are a real disruption.

However, they did not feel that there were sufficient grounds to refuse the application on the grounds of public nuisance, as they felt that the existing conditions were sufficient to mitigate the impact of the event.

Traffic

Mr Simon Cooper, a resident, also objected to the application on the grounds of traffic. He explained that traffic and pedestrians were often diverted along Cadogan Terrace towards Hackney Wick station during events. He argued that the road was too narrow for this, and that there was no pedestrian crossing, which resulted in large crowds of pedestrians having to cross the road amongst large numbers of vehicles.

the route at the gate is a downhill slope...on a narrow path to Cadigan Terrace where you then have to cross Cadigan Terrace out through the side gate, the small side gate, and there is no pedestrian crossing on Cadigan Terrace.

Mr Cooper suggested that the traffic management plan might not have taken proper account of these issues.

Mr Taylor responded that the traffic management plan was reviewed annually by a multi-agency group, which includes representatives from the council's events team, highways team, British Transport Police, the Metropolitan Police, station managers from Mile End, Bethnal Green, Hackney Wick and Overground, Transport for London and the buses team.

Deadline Extension

The Sub-Committee agreed to a request from officers to extend the deadline for decisions on applications relating to three other premises:

• Shop 47 Goulston Street, London E1 7TP
• Troxy, 490 Commercial Road, London, E1 0HX
• Platform Hub One Ltd, Unit Cr40 Level Minus One, Crossrail Station and Retail Mall, 1 Crossrail Place, London E14 5AR

The deadline will be extended to 30 April 2024.