Entertainment & liquor licensing

News: eNews - Successful Appeal against Westminster City Council's Stress Policy - Holed beneath the water line?

On 9 February 2007 District Judge Roscoe gave her ruling in respect of an appeal by the operators of Movida in Argyll Street, W1 against a deemed rejection of variation to a premises licence, the application having been made under the transitional provisions, and was presumably one of those Westminster did not have time to deal with and accordingly it was deemed refused.

Movida were already licensed for live and recorded music, dancing and late night refreshment, Mondays to Saturdays until 03:30, and 03:00 on Sundays. Alcohol sales ceased at 03:00 and 00:30 on Sundays. The licence was obviously granted under the old Section 77 regime and the condition of ancillary sale of alcohol was attached to the licence.

The application was to extend the terminal hour for the sale of alcohol until 05:00 the following morning, with music, dancing and late night refreshment until 07:00.

The allotted slot for this appeal, bearing in mind all the pressures that have existed in respect of appeals to be heard from Westminster, commenced on 17 July 2006. The case finished after its 11th day of hearing on 20 December 2006. It is clear from the ruling that Westminster City Council's objection which had initially been based on Cumulative Impact Policy changed in that it sought to add on objections relating to crime and disorder specific to the premises.

The ruling makes very interesting reading but suffice it to say it was quite clear that not only was this an up-market night club operating a strict membership and guest list policy, but it enforced its conditions of entry rigidly, and in the course of its business entertained a large number of celebrities. Prices are expensive.

There is a high proportion of staff, including security staff to customers, an extremely sophisticated CCTV system and, very relevantly, the employment of a company to provide mini cabs with a PCO registered office at the club premises. This went some way to try and alleviate the problem of illegal mini cabs touting for business outside.

The delays were caused by the service of large quantities of paperwork by Westminster City Council which as the case progressed had to be digested at speed by the appellants and their solicitors. It is quite clear from the ruling the District Judge was not impressed by this, but was impressed by the conduct of the club and the solicitors - well done the team from Jeffery Green Russell.

It is also quite clear that the DPS made an extremely good impression as a high quality manager who gave frank and credible evidence.

The court had to be satisfied on a balance of probabilities that the application would promote the licensing objectives which the policy was there to protect, and in being so satisfied, the case would be an exception to the policy. Having considered the evidence, District Judge Roscoe decided that as the premises were already licensed for well beyond the core hours, and under the conversion process were actually able to stay open all night should they so wish - they did not - she did not feel that the provision of later dancing and music and in particular the service of late night refreshment for longer hours would do anything other than promote the licensing objectives.

To extend the sale of alcohol similarly she felt would not make much difference, if any, to the amount of crime and disorder on the premises or the stretching of police resources.

She decided that the licensing objectives would not be undermined by the granting of the appeal, and, with suitable conditions, would promote those objectives.

A total of 13 further other conditions, closely linked to the issues which were before the court were imposed.

This is the first successful appeal in a substantive case involving the extension of hours in the stress area.

However, the ruling in the case underpins what has been said before in respect of the Westminster Policy. For an exception to be found to the policy, it is not simply good enough for operators to be good. They have to be able to go several steps further than the average club operator and have to show a real intention to co-operate with all the authorities to meet the licensing objectives.

However, the core of this case was nevertheless the quality of the management of this club, assisted by the fact that it had a considerable degree of exclusivity. It certainly blazes a trail for others to follow.