The Licensing & Regulatory Sub-Committee met to discuss whether to revoke the license of the Supper Club on Tacket Street in Ipswich. The meeting considered reports from Suffolk Constabulary and Ipswich Borough Council's Environmental Protection team.

Review of a Premises Licence - Supper Club, 10a Tacket Street, Ipswich

This meeting was to consider an application from Suffolk Constabulary, dated 25 October 2024, for the review of the Premises Licence for the Supper Club, 10a Tacket Street Ipswich, IP4 1AY.

Grounds for Review

The application for review was made on the grounds that the Supper Club was failing to uphold the licensing objectives of 'the prevention of crime and disorder' and 'public safety'.

The application from PC Steven Wright of Suffolk Constabulary lists a series of violent incidents at the club.

Since March 2023 Suffolk Constabulary have had to respond to a number of incidents at these premises. These have included assaults, sexual assaults, disorder, noise complaints, spiking and intelligence relating to drugs. — PC Steven Wright, Application for Review of Premises Licence

Representation from Environmental Protection

Ipswich Borough Council's Environmental Protection team also submitted a representation to the committee in advance of the meeting.

The representation describes a history of noise complaints made against the Supper Club, beginning with a complaint from a resident on 30 June 2023:

On arrival loud music was audible from the other side of the street (facade of complainants building). The volume level was clearly louder than the restrictions placed on the licence. — Michael Cheong, Representation from Environmental Protection

The report goes on to describe how Mr Michael Cheong, Environmental Health Officer, visited Supper Club on 12 July 2023 and agreed maximum noise levels with the then Designated Premises Supervisor, Mr Ervin Hyso.

The Environmental Protection team received a further complaint on 22 December 2023, again about loud music:

On arrival, club music, including bass was clearly audible from outside Sainsburys. The officer was unable to tell whether it was coming from Supper Club, Distilled Republik or (more likely) both — Michael Cheong, Representation from Environmental Protection

The report concludes by describing the arms race between late night venues in Tacket Street as each venue competes for customers by offering later opening hours.

This has the effect of an “arms race” where each premises competes for customers by offering later opening hours than their rivals. — Michael Cheong, Representation from Environmental Protection

Mr Cheong suggests that that the only way to reduce noise disturbance from late night revellers is targeted police patrols or removing the noise source by curtailing the opening times of licensed premises near to residential areas.

Options

The report set out 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, and revoking the licence.