Agenda and minutes

Agreed to exclude the public and press for the remainder of the meeting due to the nature of the business to be transacted.

The Licensing Case Officer (LCO) presented a report to the Sub-Committee regarding a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) application.

On 6 February 2020, Ms Kelani-Afolabi (Fola) submitted a TEN application to use D’Will Events Centre, Selinas Lane, Dagenham. The Notice was to host a wedding reception from the hours of 18:00 on Saturday 22 February until 4:00am on Sunday 23 February 2020 with the provision of regulated entertainment by way of a DJ and late-night refreshment. There was no planned sale of alcohol although it would be served in small quantities to family and friends at no charge.

It was noted that the first application covered the operating hours of between 23:00 and 02:00 as it was the applicant’s understanding that a licence was not required up to 23:00. However in view of contrary advice a second TEN application was made to cover the full anticipated time of the party i.e. 18:00 to 02:00, which was then resubmitted with amended operating hours of 18:00 until 04:00 for the purposes of cleaning up the premises after the conclusion of the reception.

In presenting the report the LCO referenced the premises operating history over the past year which included an alleged Unlicensed Music Event (UME) and the submission of two previous TEN’s, one of which was rejected as it fell outside of the required time limits and the other which was subsequently withdrawn following notification of a Police objection. 

The current TEN application was presented before the Sub-Committee due to an objection from the Police in relation to the application failing to satisfy the licencing objectives of the prevention of crime, public nuisance and public safety. The Metropolitan Police were represented by PC Owen Dunn and Ms Kelani-Afolabi (Fola), the Manager of the Events Centre (‘the applicant’) and her daughter were also present at the meeting.

In accordance with the agreed procedure the Chair invited PC Dunn to outline the Police objections which were detailed in a letter to the Licensing Authority dated 10 February and which was appended to the report.

PC Dunn explained that there had been multiple closure notices placed around Selinas Lane in the last two months as a result of Unlicensed Music Events (UME’s), one of which was on the same industrial estate, and therefore given the operating history of the premises as detailed in the report, it was the Police view that rather than hosting a wedding reception supposedly four years after the actual wedding, the submission of the latest TEN could be seen as an attempt by the applicant to host another UME which they would not support, and which would result in further closure notices being submitted.

Whilst the premises is located within an industrial estate, it is situated close to residential areas, given rise to concerns about potential noise nuisance and general disturbance given the 04:00am closure time and the potential for the clientele leaving the premises being intoxicated (to a degree). This is compounded by the lack  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.