Agenda and minutes

The meeting was convened to consider an application from Springmerch Ltd for a 10-year time limited premises license to hold music festivals at Central Park, Dagenham, and followed objections raised by Responsible Authorities in the light of the Government’s COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

At the outset, the Chair stated that it was his understanding that the applicant was seeking an adjournment of the application and therefore he invited the applicant’s legal representative to make a submission. Mr Simon Taylor, Solicitor, stated that due to contradictory Government guidance and the continued impact of the pandemic, the applicant had accepted that the September 2020 event sought in the application could not proceed.

It was therefore proposed that the current application should be adjourned for at least two months, during which time the Government would hopefully provide clear and unequivocal guidance as well as allowing for the continued planning for a possible event in 2021 within the existing Safety Advisory Group (SAG) process, including a revised timetable for an event management plan.  Mr Taylor also requested that the current application be revised to remove the September 2020 event as well as making amendments to the proposed conditions to reflect feedback from both the Responsible Authorities and the SAG.

The Chair accordingly asked whether any party attending had any objections to the adjournment sought. There were no submissions made.

Decision

Having returned from private deliberations, the Sub-Committee acknowledged that the proposed September 2020 event could not take place given the current Government guidance and therefore resolved to adjourn consideration of the application to a date on or before 11 September 2020, thereby allowing the applicant to have further discussions with the Council’s Licensing team. 

With regard to the request to vary the application to remove the 2020 event and the proposed conditions contained therein, the Sub-Committee took the view that any such request should, in the first instance, be made in writing to the Council’s Licensing Officer. 

All parties were reminded that they had a right to appeal against the decision to the Magistrates Court within 21 days.