Councillors granted all three September alcohol licences despite 28 objections. The Highbury Park shop got 1am, not 2am. Hours and conditions for each.

Islington councillors granted all three alcohol licences they heard on 15 September. Residents had lodged 28 objections between them, and a local business objected to one.

The shop on Highbury Park that asked to sell alcohol until 2am will close at 1am instead on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. The other two got the hours they asked for, with extra conditions.

The decisions are in the minutes of Licensing Sub-Committee A, which were published with the papers for the sub-committee’s 6 October meeting. We reported the three applications before the hearing.

What was decided

Shop What it asked for What it got
Highbury Daily Market, 108 Highbury Park, N5 Off sales to 2am Thursday to Saturday, midnight on other nights Off sales to 1am Thursday to Saturday, midnight on other nights
Mulkern Food and Wine, 31 Mulkern Road, N19 New licence, off sales 8am to 11pm daily Granted as asked, alcohol behind the counter only
River and Green, 203 Green Lanes, N16 Off sales to 12.45am, or 1.45am on Friday and Saturday; drinks on site Granted, but no drinking outside after 11pm

Highbury Daily Market: 1am, not 2am

The shop had already cut its request back after talking to the police. It asked for midnight from Sunday to Wednesday and 2am from Thursday to Saturday.

The sub-committee settled on 1am for the late nights. Under the decision the shop sells alcohol to take away and stays open:

  • 8am to midnight, Sunday to Wednesday
  • 8am to 1am, Thursday to Saturday

Four residents objected. Only one came to the hearing. They said customers could buy alcohol late and gather in nearby streets until 3am or 4am.

The applicant’s lawyer argued the objections were about what might happen, not about anything that had. No responsible authority had objected, and the minutes record no noise complaints against the shop.

One councillor noticed something the papers had not raised. The licence bans beer, lager, cider or spirit mixtures of 6.5% ABV or stronger, and stronger products appeared to be on sale. The applicant said they were not aware of it and would put it right. The sub-committee’s written reasons stress that the 6.5% condition “must be strictly observed”.

The councillors also asked for examples of local shops open until 2am. The applicant said some nearby shops traded until about 1am, but could not name one open until 2am.

Mulkern Food and Wine: granted, behind the counter

This was the application with the most objections: 17 residents and Nisa Local Archway, a shop on the same road. The hours sought were inside the council’s framework hours of 8am to 11pm.

The Nisa representative said the shop was about 50 metres from a school and close to a homeless hostel. They asked for refusal, or failing that a list of extra conditions. One was that every bottle sold should carry a label with the shop’s address.

The sub-committee refused that one. Its reasons note that Nisa Local Archway does not label its own alcohol that way. It did add two conditions of its own:

  • all alcohol is displayed and sold only from behind the counter, with no self-service
  • the front and side of the shop are kept clean and swept at close of business each day

The police condition on strength was reworded to a straight ban on beer, lager and cider above 6.5% ABV.

The unit was a fish and chip shop and is currently closed. Our earlier report noted that the council’s planning officers recorded its lawful use as a hot food takeaway, so trading as a convenience store would need planning permission. The minutes do not mention planning. A licence and a planning permission are separate consents.

River and Green: late licence, earlier finish outside

The Green Lanes shop already had a licence to sell alcohol until 11pm. It asked for a new one with later hours, drinks on the premises and late night refreshment.

Seven residents objected and none attended. The police did not object. The applicant said there had been no incidents since the burger business opened in May, apart from complaints about a DJ on its opening day.

The sub-committee granted the late hours with conditions the applicant had offered:

  • no drinking in the outside area after 11pm, with the tables and chairs made unusable
  • no more than 16 people in the outside seating area
  • no vertical drinking
  • extra waste bins whenever the outside area is in use

Off sales must be in sealed containers. The councillors also spotted that one condition on the old licence named Hackney Council instead of Islington, and corrected it.

Why all three went through

Islington’s licensing policy says off-sales applications that draw objections “will normally be refused or subject to certain limitation”. That presumption can be rebutted.

In each case the minutes record that no responsible authority objected once conditions were agreed. The legal adviser read the sub-committee the national guidance that a decision “should be evidence-based” and proportionate. None of the three shops is in one of the borough’s cumulative impact areas.

What it means for you

If you live near one of these shops and problems start, the route is a licence review. Any resident can apply for one, as can the police and the council’s own teams. A review is how Trading Standards got the Highbury Park shop’s licence suspended for two months in 2019.

Keep a record of dates, times and what happened. Report noise to the council as it happens, so that there is evidence on file. The River and Green licence includes a condition that sends the shop back to an 11pm close if a noise or odour complaint is upheld and not fixed.

The parties have a right of appeal to the magistrates’ court within 21 days of being notified of a decision.

Sources