Agenda and minutes

(Director of Corporate Support Services) As attached.

(Director of Corporate Support Services) To consider the attached report.

The three Councillors that presided over this item were Councillors Morgan, Gadsby and Leonard. The Chairman welcomed the participants and requested that they introduce themselves to the Sub-Committee. In attendance on behalf of the application were: Mr F Fender, the Applicant’s Licensing Consultant and Agent; and Ms Irfan Taskiran, the applicant. There were no objectors in attendance. The Chairman then introduced the Members and Officers present, and outlined the procedure that would be followed for the determination of the application.

The Application before the Sub-Committee

The Litigation Executive informed the Sub-Committee that an application for a Premises Licence had been received in respect of Mezesphere at 74 High Street in Epping, along with a representation from an interested party. The application had requested permission to serve alcohol from 11.00am to 11.00pm on Monday to Saturday, and 12.00pm to 10.30pm on Sunday. In addition, the application had requested that the premises be open to the public from 9.00am to 11.00pm on Monday to Saturday, and 12.00pm to 10.30pm on Sunday. No seasonal variations or non standard timings were requested.

Presentation of the Applicant’s Case

The Applicant’s Agent informed the Sub-Committee that the application was a new Premises Licence for a restaurant of 120 covers serving Mediterranean-style food. The application requested permission to serve alcohol between the hours of 11.00am and 11.00pm on Monday to Saturday, and 12.00pm to 10.30pm on Sunday. The application also requested permission for the premises to open from 9.00am on Monday to Saturday, but this was to allow for the serving of breakfast and morning coffees, not alcohol. It was emphasised that alcohol would only be sold to Diners at the premises, and off sales would only be for Diners to take the rest of their bottle of wine home if they had not finished it by the end of their meal.

The Agent acknowledged that the Council had received a representation from a local resident, and this had been considered very carefully by the Applicant. A number of issues had been raised by the representation, and the response of the Applicant was as follows:

·         Too many outlets in the vicinity of the premises – the Council did not operate a quota system for such outlets in a vicinity.

·         Food Smells – a planning condition had already been imposed upon the premises to control the emission of food odours.

·         Customer Noise – the premises was in a town centre location and therefore the location would attract a certain amount of noise in the evening. The potential for noise from the premises could be reduced by the display of signs inside the premises and staff monitoring the noise of customers outside the premises.

·         Parking – the issues raised were not relevant to licensing applications, and there were other enforcement measures available.

·         Litter – there was a certain amount of litter already present at the premises, even though the premises had not yet opened. This was probably caused by the premises being empty and it would be dealt  ...  view the full minutes text for item 91.