There were no apologies for absence.

The sub-committee noted that Mr Penn (Regulatory Services Manager) had been involved in the discussions with the applicant on behalf of the Licensing Authority in respect of potential conditions to be applied to the licence to address the Licensing Authority’s concerns in respect of the application.  Under normal circumstances and in accordance with the statutory guidance, he would not therefore usually attend the meeting on behalf of the Licensing Authority.  However, due to exceptional circumstances, there was no other officer available. All parties to the hearing had no objections to Mr Penn’s attendance and involvement at the hearing.

The sub-committee received a report of the Executive Director (Neighbouhoods and Environment) concerning an application by Rococo (Leigh) Ltd for the grant of a Premises Licence at Fellini, 34-36 Elm Road, Leigh-on-Sea, SS9 1SN.

The application was presented by Mr R Sutherland (Applicant’s Agent) on behalf of the applicant.  The applicant and owner of the premises, Mr M Hassan, was also in attendance.

The sub-committee noted that no letters of objection to this application had been received from any of the Responsible Authorities, however, measures had been agreed between Essex Police, the Licensing Authority and the Applicant, should the application be granted.  These were included in Appendix 2 to the report of the Executive Director (Neighbourhoods and Environment). One letter of representation had however, been received from Leigh Town Council.  Councillor D Cracknell attended the meeting and gave evidence on behalf of Leigh Town Council. 

The objections/representations related to concerns of public safety and public nuisance, particularly the increase in the number of patrons permitted at the  premises resulting in overcrowding, noise of patrons attending and leaving the premises, notably when the doors at the premises were open and the disturbance caused by customers using the external areas, which would be detrimental to residents living in close proximity to the premises.

Prior to the hearing, the applicant’s agent submitted some additional information to support the application. This comprised a report and findings from a noise impact assessment of patrons using the outside terrace dining area that had been produced by Richard Vivien, Principal Consultant at Big Sky Acoustic Ltd., together with letters from two taxi companies regarding the provision of pre-booking and priority venue services to and from the premises.

During the hearing, the applicant’s agent explained that he had experienced difficulties in completing the online application form during the lockdown period  He had been unable to complete the form correctly when entering times after mid-night and that in some instances he had been unable to enter numerical information so had had therefore only been able to enter the information in text.  He explained that the information set out in the original application and report of the Executive Director (Neighbourhoods and Environment) may therefore be inaccurate.  He confirmed that the applicant was not seeking any changes to the currently permitted hours for the opening of the premises nor the permitted hours for licensable activities for the premises, in this application.  In the event that the application is granted, the applicant’s agent confirmed that the current licence would be surrendered.

The applicant’s agent also offered an additional condition, limiting the number of persons in the external terrace area to a maximum of 16 people at any one time, for the purposes of dining and drinking only, which may assist in addressing the concerns of the objector. Additionally, the applicant’s agent agreed to remove condition 3 on Appendix 2 to the report of the Executive Director (Neighbourhoods and Environment) regarding the number of special days when tables and chairs could be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 420.