Agenda item

The report of the Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory requests Members consideration on an application for the grant of a premises licence, made by Fat Hippo Restaurants Limited, for Fat Hippo Restaurants Limited Ground Floor, White Rose House, 8 Otley Road, Headingley, Leeds, LS6 2AD.

(Report attached)

The report of the Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory set out an application for the grant of a premises licence, made by Fat Hippo Restaurants

Limited, for Fat Hippo Restaurants Limited Ground Floor, White Rose House, 8 Otley Road, Headingley, Leeds, LS6 2AD.

In attendance for this item were:

·  Paddy Whur, Woods Whur (representing the applicant; Fat Hippo Restaurants Limited)

·  Michael Phillips, Fat Hippo Group (Managing Director)

·  Susan Duckworth, Principal Licensing Officer (Licensing Authority)

·  Dave Parker (West Yorkshire Police)

The Licensing Officer presented the application providing the Members with the following information:

·  These premises wished to operate as a restaurant providing sale by retail of alcohol everyday 11:00 -23:00 for consumption both on and off the premises;

·  The proposal was for a restaurant with alcohol being sold ancillary to food sales. As set out at Section M of Appendix A;

·  Representation had been received from the Licensing Authority and West Yorkshire Police due to the location of the premises being within the Cumulative Impact Area (CIA) of Headingley. Representations were appended to the report at Appendix D;

·  Supporting Evidence from West Yorkshire Police was provided at Appendix E;

·  A copy of the Cumulative Impact Policy was provided at Appendix F;

·  Appendix G provided a list of other licensed premises in the area.

Mr Whur informed the Licensing Sub Committee of the following points:

·  The Fat Hippo Restaurants are Burger Restaurants which also have premises located in Jesmond, Newcastle, Birmingham and Nottingham. Some of these restaurants are located in CIA’s;

·  The restaurant was not requesting regular entertainment licence but would be a ‘true’ restaurant with 90% of sales food related;

·  The applicant has taken a 10 year lease on the premises spending approximately £300,000 and would be providing about 25 new jobs;

·  Fat Hippo restaurants in other locations had a good track record with no representations being made;

·  These premises would be an all seating restaurant;

These premises would be an all seating restaurant;

·  Attention was drawn to 7.36 to 7.38 of the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy which sets out what factors the Committee should take into account and which factors are not relevant. It was recognised that data provided was out of date due to the 2020 pandemic;

·  Members attention was also drawn to the decision in relation to the Brewdog appeal;

·  Last orders would be at 11pm with the premises closing at midnight;

·  No representations had been received locally with no residents raising concerns.

In objection to the application West Yorkshire Police and the Licensing Authority informed Members of the following:

·  Objection was purely on the location within the CIA of Headingley;

·  It was recognised that there were no crime statistics in relation to these premises as it was not currently operating. However, contact had been made with the Police in Newcastle and County Durham, it was noted that there had been no issues in relation to the Fat Hippo Restaurants in these locations;

·  It was also recognised that the data was out of date especially over the last few months due to the restrictions presented due to Covid. It was noted that data previously had related to public order and assaults in the area but had been relatively level over the past few years;

·  It was noted that the CIA in Headingley was handled differently to the CIA of the City Centre with discussions had with local ward members. The Sub-Committee were advised that the Headingley area has a number of small independent businesses and it was the wish that this should continue;

·  The premises would be located in the main area of Headingley on the corner of North Lane. This is a large venue with about 110 seats, requesting moderate hours with a proposal to be food led. It was noted that the drinks menu was aimed at the younger market.

Responding to questions from Members the Sub-Committee were informed of the following points:

·  The latest data was from December 2019, there had been no significant increases in public order offences and no incidents could be attached to specific premises;

·  Door staff had not been required at Fat Hippo restaurants in other locations such as Jesmond, which had a similar demographic to Headingley with students and young professionals living in the area. It was noted that door staff would not normally be employed but could be employed if there was a festival or large event at the Arena.

In summing up Mr Whur again highlighted the policy saying that this should not be a bar for new premises. The Police had checked on other Fat Hippo locations with no issues being noted.

Mr Whur said that the venue would attract young people but the alcohol menu was modest and the hours applied for were moderate. He was of the view that the Fat Hippo would be an exciting addition to the Headingley area.

Member’s discussions included:

·  The size of the venue;

·  The proportion of food to drink sales;

·  Additional impact on the CIA.

RESOLVED – To grant the application as applied for.

The meeting concluded at 14:15