The Licensing Panel (Licensing Act 2003 Functions) of Brighton and Hove Council met to consider an application for a variation of a premises licence for Revolution, and to deal with procedural business. The meeting was scheduled to include discussion of representations received regarding the application. Councillor Julie Cattell, Councillor Steve Davis, and Councillor Sam Parrott were scheduled to be in attendance.

Revolution, 77 West Street

The panel were scheduled to consider an application for a variation of a premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003 for Revolution, located at 77 West Street, Brighton. The applicant, Inventive Service Company Limited, requested the following variations:

• To extend the closing time on Friday and Saturday evenings, and the day before any bank holiday, from 03:00 to 04:00.
• To extend the terminal hour for regulated entertainment and late-night refreshment, indoors only, on Friday and Saturday evenings, and the day before any bank holiday, from 03:00 to 04:00.
• To extend the terminal hour for the sale of alcohol by retail, on and off sales, on Friday and Saturday evenings, and the day before any bank holiday, from 02:30 to 03:30.
• To update and strengthen the conditions on the premises licence and dispose of those that are no longer appropriate.

The report pack noted that the times for opening and currently authorised licensed activities, regulated entertainment, late night refreshment, and sale of alcohol from Sunday to Thursday were to remain unchanged. The provisions for New Year's Eve and British Summer Time, which were currently permitted by the existing premises licence, were also included in the application to protect against the unintentional delicensing of any aspect of the premises' existing permissions. The licensed layout of the premises was also scheduled to remain unchanged.

A summary table of existing and proposed activities was included in the report pack:

The report pack stated that the premises falls within the Cumulative Impact Area¹ (CIA). Representations were received from Sussex Police, the Licensing Authority, and the Environmental Protection team. The representations raised concerns relating to the prevention of crime and disorder, prevention of public nuisance, and cumulative impact.

Sussex Police stated that while they acknowledged that the variation application had limited the extension asked for to just Friday and Saturday nights, this was arguably the busiest time in the night-time economy and so required special scrutiny and discussion. They stated that offering additional licensable activity into the early hours encourages persons who may be already under the influence of alcohol or drugs to remain in the area, which is at the heart of the night-time economy in Brighton (West Street). This, they argued, increases the risk of crime and disorder, anti-social behaviour and public nuisance.

The Licensing Authority stated that the premises falls within the Cumulative Impact Zone, which was adopted to give greater power to control the number of licensed premises within the city's centre. They stated that the Special Policy on Cumulative Impact was introduced because the Licensing Authority determined that the concentration of licensed premises and the subsequent numbers of people drawn into the city centre is causing exceptional problems of crime and disorder and public nuisance.

The Environmental Protection Team stated that they were concerned that granting the proposal would mean neighbouring residents would have to bear an additional hour of disturbance from loud music/karaoke from the premises. They stated that based on noise complaints they have received in the past and the most recent ones, it does not appear that the applicant is currently managing the sound levels coming from the premises even with the existing conditions for the prevention of public nuisance on the current premises licence.

The report pack included extracts from Brighton & Hove City Council's Statement of Licensing Policy, which was considered relevant to the application. These included:

• The licensing objectives: the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance, and the protection of children from harm.

• The Cumulative Impact Zone[^3]: a special policy relating to the concentration of licensed premises in an area of the city centre causing problems of crime and disorder and public nuisance.

  The effect of this special policy is that applications for new premises licences or club premises certificates within the area, or variations which are likely to add to the existing Cumulative Impact will be refused following relevant representations. This presumption can be rebutted by the applicant if they can show that their application will have no negative Cumulative Impact.

• The Matrix Approach: a framework of what the licensing authority would like to see within its area, giving an indication of the likelihood of success or otherwise to investors and businesses making applications.

The report pack recommended that the Panel determine the application for a variation of a premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003 for Revolution.