Monday 11 September 2006

Busy busy busy

I'm going to apologise in advance for the coming week. I'm up to my neck in work and might not be able to write much, which is a bit of a pain as these are crucial times to kick Buster's butt.

I've had really good response from you, lovely listener, and know you're all doing your bit to keep Plumsteadshire fragrant.

Now here's a suggestion to those who are running the petition. How about leaving a form at our beloved Co-Op? That way, the thousands of local residents can sign it. Let's be honest. It's not as if the queues move very quickly now do they?

Let's not get complacent. Time is against us.

Thank you all once again. Community action at work.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I signed the petition yesterday. It seems that quite a number of people in Wernbrook Street are involved in this. Given time is against us, I would suggest that a stroll down Wernbrook Street and a quick chat to any of the neighbours will see you in front of a petition in no time. After all, it's a very nice street that really doesn't deserve a pile of Bust ya Crap at the end of it

Anonymous said...

think we should club together and try and find someone to bring one of their great gastro style pubs to plumstead. . The actor tamar hassan and his family have done a great job with these style of bars in deptford and greenwich . . . due to the ships location this could potentially make or break this area especially for us homeowners who see the massiv potential this area has in the next 5-10 years

Anonymous said...

Happy to attend, but what time?

Anonymous said...

Hi folks

I am in the process of writing my letter to our local councilor and to the licensing section of greenwich council. I have been reading an account via The Times online, about some residents in Camden who tried to appeal a similar application. There was a residents petition, and everyone said they were going to write a letter, but when it came down to it, only one or two people actually wrote to the council using the grounds for appeal.
The council website states
"Your representation must be based on one of the four licensing objectives:


Protection of children from harm
Prevention of crime and disorder
Public safety
Prevention of public nuisance"
and your letter needs to be sent in to:

"Write to:
Licensing Section
Greenwich Council
11th Floor, Riverside House
Woolwich High Street
London SE18 6DN

Including:


your name and address
your grounds for complaint (which must relate directly to one or more of
the four licensing objectives)
your signature
If you want to nominate someone to represent you at the hearing, such as your local councillor, include this information too.
We will pass a copy of your letter to the applicant. If you do not want your name and address to be passed on, you must include a request for your details to be removed in your letter of objection."


In the case quoted in The Times, the decision went against local residents and the licenses were granted. This was not because people werent making representations - but because they did not make them in 'right' format. It is very important that as well as councillors and petitions we actually get those letters of objection into the licensing section of the council.

Get writing people!!!!

Anonymous said...

In case anyone is interested in reading the Greenwich licensing policy, I have found it buried on the website (does anyone else have trouble navigating round that site?). You should be able to reach it by cutting a pasteing this link to your web browser

http://www.greenwich.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/798AF0FC-D1CC-4981-B76D-76E6614174BD/0/006520Licensingpolicy0514jan05.pdf

Anonymous said...

Having been a licensee of many venues in my time, although not a local resident, I thought I might comment.

I can see from the other comments that there is strong feeling against the granting of the license. Is there also strong feeling against the previous license before the premises were closed ?

If there are many objections, the licensee will almost certainly push to have a new license granted that is similar, if not identical, to the previous license. Within a few years (next Brewsters is 2008 I believe) there will be an application to vary this license and get where they wanted to go anyway, or maybe small steps per year. So letting any license be granted could just be letting the true horror in by the backdoor.

The few but most effective ways I know to stop a license are...

1. Raise objections with the local police liaison for liquor licensing. If they go to meet the licensee (as they're required to do) after hearing many objections, they are less likely to give a favourable report back to the magistrate.

2. Raise objections with the public entertainments licensing officer at the council. From experience, it takes a lot to convince them that you have a reasonable case for a PEL, and more still to get the hours you applied for. Therefore, it's much easier to get a rejection than a grant.

If the license is granted, all is not lost.

1. Most late license grants are based on some very shakey foundations. Failure to provide "sufficient food" (not properly defined in law, but more than bags of crisps, usually something that requires cutlery) can invalidate the license beyond 11pm. If the late part of the license is granted in conjuction with a PEL (Public Entertainment License) then is can be invalidated by silly things like merely not having customers dancing to music.

2. Any interested party can request a review under section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003, where all of the objections you currently have can be re-raised but with case evidence of how the license has been misused.