Agenda item

To consider the attached report.

The three Councillors that presided over this item were Councillors R Morgan (Chairman), L Hughes and D Stocker.

The Chairman introduced the members and officers present and outlined the procedure that would be followed for the determination of the application. The Chairman welcomed Sonal Patel the applicant.

a)            The Application before the Sub-Committee

The Licensing Compliance Officer, H Ibrahim introduced the application. The application had been made by Khyva Limited for a new premises licence at 40 Coolgardie Avenue, Chigwell. The application was for an online Hamper Business operating from her home and the applicant would like to include alcohol in the hampers. This will be by way of sales via the website only and will be run from a side extension of her home. There will be no consumption on the premises.

The application included the following: Supply of Alcohol Monday to Sunday 09:00am-17:00pm, hours premises will be open to the public Monday to Sunday 09:00am-17:00pm.

The authority had received one representation from a local resident, this objection related to the prevention of public nuisance. The Police and Fire Service had raised no objections.

b)            Presentation of the Applicant’s Case

Ms Patel said that this was a Luxury Hamper Business for all occasions. She had noted clients had wanted alcohol to be included; about 60% of enquiries had related to this.

Having her business at home was a short term plan; she hoped to be moving to bigger offices soon.  She would keep no stocks of alcohol at home and would go out to buy the alcohol she needed herself when it was requested.

Her premise had CCTV and was alarmed.

She would be operating from 9 to 5pm and the hamper would only be distributed during these hours Monday to Friday.

No children would be sold to as there was age verification software on her website.

c)            Questions for the Applicant from the Sub-Committee

A sub-committee member noted that the application said it was open to the public but later on in the application it said that premises would not be open to the general public. Ms Patel replied that what she meant was that it would be open for deliveries but not for the general public.

A sub-committee member asked how many vehicles would be coming and going on a daily basis. Ms Patel said that a delivery would only happen once a day between 9 and 2pm. She would go out to pick up any alcohol ordered.

A sub-committee asked if she would be using her garage. The applicant replied that she would be using a side extension.

Asked if she had a personal licence she said that she did.

Asked what would be the size of the lorries used for deliveries and collections Ms Patel replied that they be using a small white van, which would park on her driveway.

Ms Patel was asked how she got her hampers delivered. She said that they were actually cardboard boxes that came flat packed. Other items were delivered once a month.

A sub-committee member asked how long had she been running this business. They were told that she had started this last September, and that she did most of her business at Christmas time.

d)            Consideration of the Objector’s Statement

The Chairman noted that part of the objects was that Coolgardie Avenue was very narrow which would cause problems with all the deliveries and collections. Ms Patel agreed that it was a narrow road, but she would only have small vans delivering and they would always park on her driveway.

e)            Closing Statement from the Applicant

Ms Patel spoke about the protection of Children from harm. She had children of her own and if a hamper was for an adult aged over 18 years old they would need a signature on delivery. She repeated that she would be picking up any alcohol herself until she acquired bigger premises.  She also noted that Coolgardie Avenue had no yellow lines.

f)             Consideration of the Application by the Sub-Committee

The Chairman requested that the applicant withdraw from the chamber while they considered the application in private. During the deliberations the sub-committee received no further advice from the officers present.

RESOLVED:

That the application made by Khyva Limited for a new premises licence at 40 Coolgardie Avenue, Chigwell, be granted subject to the usual conditions.