Thursday, February 22, 2007

Licensing Applications w/e 9 February

Filli Bar
129-131 City Road

London EC1V 9LB

Mr Balaban

Application to vary existing premises licence to extend hours for the supply of alcohol and to permit live/recorded music and facilities for dancing and the provision of late night refreshment from 11:00 until 23:00 Sun to Tues, 11:00 until 01:00 Weds and Fri and from 11:00 until 03:00 Fri and Sat.

Closing date for representations: 07/03/2007

Efes Supermarket
8 Pitfield Street

London N1 6AH

Mr Ozdas

Application to vary existing premises licence to allow supply of alcohol for consumption off the premises from 07:00 to 04:00 daily.

Closing date for representations: 9/3/07

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Shoreditch Licensing Meeting







There was a meeting last night in Shoreditch Town Hall which brought together local residents and licensees to discuss the tensions that the night time economy can create and how the Council and the police are hoping to work together with the community to make the area a better place for everyone. It was at times lively but generally the debate was really constructive.


What struck me most of all was that many licensees seem to feel genuinely hard done by and really resent the Special Policy Area which restricts, amongst other things, opening hours in and around the Shoreditch triangle. Complaints about the SPA from licensees seem to miss the point.


Bars in Shoreditch that are struggling are not finding life difficult because of the Special Policy Area or because enforcement is too tough. They are struggling because people don't want to spend their money with them. If they should end up closing, hopefully someone more imaginative and talented will take over and make a go of the premises either as a bar or as a restaurant or some kind of day time use.


There are loads of good bars within the SPA that do just fine and it's no surprise that they are the ones who realise that running a successful bar in an area like this requires more than flinging up half a dozen plasmas and opening late. It requires investment in staff and premises, imagination and a willingness to try different things. No-one on the Council has it in for bar owners - if licensees stick to the rules there won't be a problem and if they don't they will be dealt with in a consistent and proportionate way.



The constant doom laden predictions I hear from Shoreditch bar owners that competition from other parts of London will kill the night time economy are nonsense. What will kill the area is if we fail to crack down on the badly run bars, fail to make people (especially women) feel safe when they go out here and fail to offer people something different. Cheap drinks, late hours and proximity to strip clubs is not a recipe for a sustainable Shoreditch. Fewer, better bars, more restaurants and cafes, well maintained green spaces, more trees and more day time retail is.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

LICENCING APPLICATIONS W/E 3 FEBRUARY

Cost to Cost, Mr Abdullah
227 Shoreditch High StLondon E1 6PJ
Map

Application for a premises licence to allow the supply of alcohol from 09:00 to 23:00 Mon to Fri, 09:30 to 11:30 Sat and 10:30 to 22:30 on Sun, and allow provision of late night refreshment from 23:00 to 00:00 Mon to Sat.

Clsoing date for representations: 28/2/07

Let us know if you have any concerns about this application.

Friday, February 02, 2007

0% Rise in Council Tax and More Investment

Full Council on Wednesday saw the Mayor announce Labour's budget plans for Hackney Council.
For the first time in memory we were able to do this far enough in advance to enable the Overview & Scrutiny Board to scrutinise the proposals before they are voted on at the budget-setting council next month.

So in year 5 of a Labour administration we are able to propose that:

Hackney’s part of the council tax is being frozen for the second year in a row - with a 0% rise for 2007/8.

Rising collection rates and efficiency savings at the Town Hall mean we are able to put more money into key services without putting up council tax.

It will be the fifth year that there are NO cuts in services in Hackney’s budget.

There will be boosts for key services including:

KIDS SWIM FREE







An extra £295K to fund free access to all residents under 18 to swimming lessons during school holidays – starting this Easter.

BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE









An extra £80K to extend the opening hours of the Hackney Service Centre from 8am-6pm Monday-Friday to 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday AND Saturday morning. More translating services for customers without English as a first language.

STREET WARDENS









Investment to secure the future for Hackney’s Street Wardens to help make our borough cleaner and safer.

MORE RECYCLING





An extra £250K to roll out compulsory recycling across the borough including for plastics and to introduce blue bins for kitchen waste to all kerbside collections.

MORE TREES






An extra 500 trees on Hackney’s street this year alone – reducing our carbon footprint and making Hackney greener.

GREENER HACKNEY






An extra £1.3m to improve Hackney’s parks and green spaces.

SCHOOLS
In addition, Hackney’s schools are getting an extra £11 million to continue the improvements in education in Hackney that have seen GCSE results improve from 32% in 2002 to 51% today.