The Licensing Sub-Committee will be considering an application for a Temporary Events Notice by Pierluigi's, an Italian restaurant on Beckenham High Street. The meeting has been called urgently due to objections that have been made to the application.

Application for a Temporary Events Notice by Pierluigi's

The Sub-Committee will be considering an application for a Temporary Events Notice for Pierluigi's, an Italian Restaurant located at 86-90 Beckenham High Street.

The application is for two Temporary Events Notices, one for the late evening of 21 December 2024, and one for the late evening of 27 December 2024, both of which would permit the restaurant to sell alcohol, provide regulated entertainment and serve late night refreshment until 1am the following morning.

The report notes that the restaurant is seeking these notices because its existing licence does not permit these activities:

Where any premises are not licensed or their license does not permit an of the above activities or a premise wishes to have an activity without the restriction of a condition on an existing licence the Act provides for a person to give a Temporary Event Notice (TEN).

History of Issues at the Premises

The report provided to the committee describes a history of issues at the restaurant since it was granted a licence in November 2005, including a closure notice issued in February 2023 under the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001:

The Authority has engaged with the business on numerous occasions regarding noise complaints and breaches of the premises licence and other relevant legislation.

Public Nuisance Objections

The application has been objected to by the Public Health Nuisance Team at Bromley Council. The report pack contains two emails from the team to the Licensing Team at the council detailing their concerns, both of which relate to what they believe to be breaches of the restaurant's existing licence, and a lack of confidence that the restaurant would abide by the terms of the Temporary Events Notices.

In this circumstance the Public Nuisance Team raise and objection to both of the submitted Temporary Events Notices, as the activities of these premises and the poor management control in respect of the restriction of the current premises licence give absolutely no confidence that these Temporary Events Notices could occur without causing significant noise nuisance to local residents.

According to these emails, the Public Health Nuisance Team believe that the restaurant has been providing regulated entertainment after 11pm without the necessary licence permissions. The emails claim that noise levels from music at the restaurant constitute a statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and that a noise limiter installed at the restaurant is being tampered with.

The report pack contains details of the evidence gathered by the team, including:

• Recordings made using equipment installed in August and September 2024.
• Recordings made by a resident using an app provided to them by the council.
• Details of 11 complaints made to the council about noise from the restaurant.
• A claim that CCTV footage requested by the Licensing Team on three occasions since 2 May 2024 had not been provided.

The report pack also contains photographs of the front of the restaurant.