Agenda item

The Committee is asked to consider the response to the consultation on the proposal to maintain Cumulative Impact Areas as currently set out in the Licensing Statement of Policy 2018, including the reasons for this, and is asked to agree the Council’s Licensing Policy under the Licensing Act 2003 remain unchanged until a future review is conducted.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing introduced the Report. The consultation, agreed by the Committee at the last meeting in December, commenced on 30 December. This ran until 17 February, totalling seven weeks. The policy (Appendix 1) and accompanying letter (Appendix 2), setting out the rationale and the purpose of the consultation, was sent to the statutory list of consultees (Appendix 3). The outcome of the consultation produced one response from the West Thornton ward councillors (Appendix 4), who expressed their support for extending the Cumulative Impact Zone (CIZ) policy on London Road and Brigstock Road/Thornton Heath High Street.

The Chair thanked the Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing for his introduction and noted that the recommendations seemed sensible and practical  given  Covid circumstances, and that it was no surprise there was a limited response to the consultation. He opened the floor to Committee Member questions.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing confirmed to the Committee that the principle of judging an application on its merits when it came to committee as an important consideration in conjunction with a presumption to refuse, as outlined earlier in the meeting in relation to saturation zones, could also be applied to cumulative impact in CIZs.

Following comments from Councillor Ward suggesting that a reduction in bureaucracy to make an application could be a good change, the Chair stated that these policies would be discussed in 2022 as set out in the report.

In response to Councillor Degrads asking if South Norwood and Addiscombe were on the CIZ “watch list”, the Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing confirmed they were and said this was detailed in the current policy.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing clarified that applications not in CIZs, including variation applications, were still considered by members in the same manner as a CIZ application. If members were not satisfied by those applications or representations for a premises not in a CIZ, then they were required to grant.

The Committee RESOLVED to:

1.1.        Consider the response to the consultation on the proposal to maintain Cumulative Impact Areas as currently set out in the Licensing Statement of Policy 2018 and the reasons for this and

1.2.        Agree that, as a result of the response to the consultation:

1.2.1   no changes are currently required to the assessment of Cumulative Impact Areas which form part of the Licensing Statement of Policy 2018

1.2.2   the Licensing authority remains of the opinion that the number of relevant authorisations in respect of premises in one or more parts of its area described in the assessment of cumulative impact (cumulative impact zones) as part of the Statement of Licensing Policy 2018 is such that it is likely that it would be inconsistent with the authority's duty under section 4(1) of the Licensing Act 2003 to grant any further relevant authorisations in respect of premises in that part or those parts

1.3       Agree that the Council’s Licensing Policy under the Licensing Act 2003, copy attached at Appendix 1 to this report, shall remain unchanged until a future review is conducted, as detailed in paragraph 3.10 of the report and as such, no reference to Full Council is required.