Agenda and minutes

The Licensing Officer presented a report to the Sub Committee regarding an application by Defected London FSTVL 2019 Ltd for a premises licence at Central Park, Dagenham on Saturday 14 September 2019.

The application, at Appendix A to the report, was for a one-day music festival. The event consisted of an outdoor arena within a fenced perimeter with multiple performance areas including outdoor stages, marquees and self-contained structures. The maximum amount of people expected at the event would be set at 14999. The applicant sought the following licensable activities of live and recorded music and the supply of alcohol – between 11:00hrs to 23:00hrs for the one day:

Two representations were received in respect of this application. The first was made by the Council’s Environmental Protection & Noise Officer, who requested that should the application be approved, the following condition be applied and adhered to:

A music noise level of 70 LAeq dB(A) 15 minute & 80 Leq dB (63Hz) 15 minute both measured 1m from the facade of any noise sensitive premises 

The second representation had been submitted by the Metropolitan Police under all four Licensing Objectives, namely the Prevention of Crime & Disorder; Prevention of Public Nuisance; Protection of Children from Harm, and Public Safety, which was detailed in Appendix B to the report. Furthermore, the Police had pre-agreed conditions with the applicant dated 17 May 2019, included as Appendix C to the report.

The Licensing Officer referred to additional documentation from the applicant that had been circulated to the Sub Committee and interested parties prior to the meeting, referred to as ‘Supplementary 1’ which sought to challenge and address the concerns set out in the representations of the Police and included a revised set of conditions updating the earlier pre-agreed conditions. 

The Chair then invited the Police, through their legal representative Mr Josef Cannon, to address the Sub Committee.

Mr Cannon advised that whilst the Police were in general not opposed to the operation of these type of music festivals, it was important for such events to be properly planned and managed. Consequently, their concerns with this application centred on:

·  The fact that the applicant had been responsible for organising and promoting the WeAre Festival in Havering earlier this year and that drugs played a significant part in the level and type of crime experienced at that event. Given the similar style and the anticipated crowd dynamics of the WeAre Festival and the one being applied for, there was a risk that a similar situation may occur;

·  The Event Safety Management Plan (ESMP), incorporating arrangements for dealing with crowd safety, alcohol, security, transport and food safety, had not been finalised and agreed, which was not acceptable. The following areas in the draft ESMP were examples of insufficient planning which meant that the application posed risk to the four licensing objectives:

§   A Crowd Management Co-ordinator had not yet been appointed;

§   Given the experience at WeAre Festival, the assertion in the risk assessment that alcohol, and not drugs, would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.