Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest notified.

The minutes of the meeting held on the 20 March 2015 were agreed as a correct record.

It was confirmed that all items would be heard in public.

There had been no items notified in advance or urgent.

The Licensing Officer introduced the report informing the Sub-Committee that the application was for a new licence for the White Bear, Ickenham Road, Ruislip.  There had been no representations made by the Police but representation had been received from Environmental Protection and the Licensing Authority.  There had been five representations received from local residents.  The Sub-Committee Members were informed that for clarification the late night refreshment was for indoors only.

The applicant's representative provided background information on the White Bear Brasserie Company Ltd, the number of outlets, which were primarily food driven but did not preclude customers from using the bar to have a drink.  A new licence was being sought to enable out of date conditions to be removed from the current licence.   The White Bear was currently undergoing an extensive refurbishment and the hours being sought were identical to those on the existing licence. The applicant put forward a number of changes to the application that would hopefully help to alleviate the resident's concerns about the proposal as follows:-

·         Bar area to be closed at 11.30 pm with the restaurant remaining open until 12.00 am.

·         Rear alfresco area to be cleared by 10.30 pm with no alcohol to be served for these areas after 10 pm, following discussion the applicant also agreed for this to be applied to the front alfresco area.

·         Waiter/Waitress service at all times.

The applicant's representative then provided an overview of how it was envisaged that the White Bear would operate.  In answer to a question raised in relation to how the closure of the outside areas would be managed, the Sub-Committee was informed that there would be a high ratio of staff to customers so did not see this as being an issue.  Whilst the front outdoor area would not be supervised, staff would regularly patrol all areas to clear glasses and table waiting service would be offered throughout the premises, including outdoor areas.

The representative from the Environment Protection Unit informed the Sub-Committee that their concern was in relation to public nuisance as the premises was located in a predominantly residential area.  There would be no objection to the condition put forward by the applicant to require the alfresco areas to be cleared of customers by 10.30 pm.

The representative from the Licensing Authority advised that their concern was also around public nuisance as there had been a history of complaints from the previous operation, which provided live music.  There would be no objection to a condition on the alfresco areas being cleared of customers by 10.30 pm.

Interested Parties made the following points:-

• Planning permission conditions required the use of the outdoor areas to cease at 22.00 hours which should be mirrored in the licence hours.
• Noted that the hours for licensable activities sought are longer than other premises run by the Applicant.
• Due to the 'main' entrance moving to the rear of the premises, noise nuisance would increase for residents with customers and staff leaving at more noise sensitive times.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.