Premises and Entertainment Licence Application, The Mansion House, 48 Kennington Park Rd, SE11 4RS
Objection on behalf of the Kennington Association as to proposed
permitted hours
Who we are
1 The Kennington
Association is a voluntary membership association of upwards of 400 members
drawn from the wider Kennington area, whose aim is to promote and maintain Kennington as a good place to live and work.
The Kennington Association Planning Forum (KAPF) is a group of Association
members with interest in and experience of planning, development and licensing
issues, which develops planning policies and makes planning and licensing
representations on behalf of the wider Association.
Procedural Failings
2 The notice of application was
initially posted inaccessibly, and, contrary to the express requirements of the
notice, the proposed operating hours were not stated. Consequently, this
application, for the re-opening of a public house, next to another, the Old Red
Lion, did not attract much attention initially. Now that these deficiencies
have been rectified, (proposed operating hours now added to the notice in
another hand – see photograph), we and others have a proper basis for
objection, and the Committee should be slow to disregard ostensibly late
representations, when the 28 day notice period for display of all salient
particulars was not properly observed.
Objection on grounds of Public Nuisance
3 The proposed opening hours for
this reopened public house would be 7am till 4 am in the morning, every day.
These vastly exceed those of the adjacent public house, the Old Red Lion ( 4pm
till 11pm, Mon to Thursday, 4pm till midnight Fridays, noon till midnight
Saturdays, and noon till 11pm Sundays), and are totally unacceptable for a
residential area out of the local Kennington centre, with no local precedent
for such a late night economy.
4 As shown in the attached plan,
the application site is on the Lambeth/Southwark boundary in a short parade of
shops surrounded by dwellings, with a small park to its rear, a churchyard
opposite it across Kennington Park
Road, and the green curtilage of blocks of flats
nearby. Given the efforts of Vauxhall interests to limit sales of alcohol in
small quantities, to discourage street drinkers, such activity is being
displaced in part to Kennington, and the combination of late night off sales
and open space is likely to encourage nuisance drinking and other anti-social
behaviour.
5 The aspiration for live and
recorded music, on and off sales, pavement seating (whether the frontage on
which they would be placed is private or the public pavement is not clear) and
vastly extended hours add up to a serious nuisance to nearby residents unless
the hours are significantly curbed, and stringent conditions are imposed.
Having regard to Sections 5 and 9 of the Council’s Statement of Licensing
Policy, we urge
- That the late night hours permitted be no later than those for the adjacent Old Red Lion, and the earliest hours permitted should be 9 am
- That no external music be permitted, and conditions be imposed as to full sound proofing (no music to be audible outside the premises) to prevent disturbance to neighbouring residential properties
- That no drinking should be permitted outside the premises after 9 pm at night
- That the operating statement should address the issue of outside smoking, as required by Para 5.7 of the Statement
D J Boardman 27April 2012
Chair
Kennington Association Planning
Forum
Flat 1
39 Chester Way
London SE11 4UR
