Agenda and draft minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

It was confirmed that all items of business were marked Part I and would be considered in public.

None.

Introduction

Lois King, Licensing Officer, introduced the application for the grant of a premises licence: McDonald’s Restaurants Limited, Unit 4 Old Dairy Lane, South Ruislip, HA4 0FY. The application was submitted by Shoosmiths on behalf of McDonald's Restaurants Limited. The application was for the provision of late-night refreshment both indoors and outdoors Monday to Sunday from 23:00 hours to 05:00 hours. Opening times would be Monday to Sunday from 05:00 hours until 05:00 hours the following day, so in effect 24-hour operation. The Sub-Committee was given an overview of the application received and was informed that 55 representations had been received from interested parties during the consultation period, 53 in objection (including one from the local Ward Councillors) and one in support. A representation had also been received from the Responsible Authorities – the Licensing Authority. A petition had been received in objection to the application with 864 signatories, 364 of whom could be identified as residing within the Borough. The Sub-Committee were invited to determine the application.

The Applicant

Mr Leo Charalambides, the applicant’s representative, presented the application to the Sub-Committee, noting that McDonald’s stores were either operated by the company itself, or franchised out. This store was to be franchised out. The prospective franchisee, Mr Abel Campos, had worked with McDonald’s for 27 years; a franchisee for two years, and already ran nine stores, including stores in the Borough.

Officers had outlined that the character of the area was a mixed-use development comprising retail and leisure premises. 2014 planning permission was very specific about what the Council wanted in this area, which was to provide a food store with café and petrol station, a cinema and five restaurants along with the residential development, with no restrictions in terms of the hours of operations. This was reflected by licenses already granted for Asda and Cineworld. All-day/all-night operation in this area was very important for vibrancy, for regeneration and for the character of this development.

There was a sense that the representations seemed to think that by opening a late-night restaurant in this area McDonald’s were somehow not part of the community and that was quite wrong. As a local restaurant, McDonald’s depended on good relationships with the local community, local Council, local police in order to be successful. Mr Campos held a number of stores in and around Ruislip as a franchisee, and worked with the local community, such as providing the police with a gazebo to hold their surgeries and drop-in sessions post-COVID. Mr Campos also worked with a local school, providing food for under-privileged families, and worked with a nearby youth football team. Mr Campos also worked with police to provide CCTV for anti-social behaviour profiling and had been asked for his 24-hour stores to provide a defibrillator.

The other advantage of late-night opening was that there would be disabled access facilities so the night-time economy would be more accessible to those people that might need wider facilities.

If the license were to be granted, there would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.