Agenda item
Application by William Hill Organisation Ltd for a betting premises licence for 'William Hill' (284 Ealing Road, Wembley, HA0 4LL) pursuant to the provisions of the Gambling Act 2005
Decision:
Having considered the evidence presented to it by the applicant and the Police the Sub-Committee decided that the application by William Hill Organisation Ltd for a betting premises licence for “William Hill” (284 Ealing Road, Wembley, Middlesex HA0 4LL) pursuant to the provisions of the Gambling Act 2005 be granted subject to the following conditions;
1. All cameras and recording equipment will be installed and maintained in accordance with the manufactures instructions and will be fully operational when the premises are open to the public. CCTV cameras will be installed to recover the entrance, gaming machines and rear access [if within the customer area] An overt monitor will be installed and will be facing the customer area to show customers that they are being recorded.
2. The medium upon which images are recorded, will be clearly identifiable, stored securely, retained for a period of up to 31 days and be made available to the Council and Police Officers on request.
3. Notices shall be displayed at the entrance to the premises, and in prominent positions throughout the premises, advising that CCTV is in operation. For the purpose of these CCTV conditions ‘the Police’ refers to the licensing/partnership office of Wembley Police Station, and ‘the Licensing Authority’ refers to the Licensing Authority of the London Borough of Brent’
4. The premises to install all aspects of Raid Control to the requirement of the Metropolitan Police Crime Reduction Officer save for the requirement to utilise smoke and dye packs
5. A clear visible and unobstructed view of the premises will be afforded at all times. Approximately 75% of the shop frontage will be clear. [A single display board will be placed in the window-as shop plan FINAL/L/NL/B/607/02E]
6. The premises to adopt and advertise a scheme requiring all patrons under 21 years of age to produce identification with the accepted forms of identification namely a passport or photo driving licence
7. Gambling Compliance Forms will be completed daily and all incidents are recorded on a daily basis. This will be available to the Police and responsible authorities upon request.
8. The following signs will be displayed:
Think 21
No Persons Under 18 yrs
No Alcohol
No Smoking
Persons will be prosecuted for causing criminal damage.
9. The premises will have an intruder alarm and a panic button connected to the alarm system.
10. A fire alarm and smoke detection system will be installed
11. Doors and windows will remain closed. A maglock electronic door release will be fitted to the entrance door controlled by the staff from the counter to be used at all times.
12. Toilets will remain locked and access given by staff.
13. A minimum of 2 members of staff to be present on the licensed premises at all times.
Minutes:
Relevant authority making a representation
Luke Ponte (legal representative, Metropolitan Police)
PC Nicola McDonald (Licensing Officer, Brent Police)
Premises licence holder
Richard Taylor (premises licence holder’s legal representative)
Martin McInerney (area manager, William Hill)
Alan Howarth (Licensing Manager, Health Safety and Licensing) introduced the matter and advised the Sub-Committee that the application was for a premises licence to operate betting premises at 284 Ealing Road, Wembley HA0 4LL.
Case for the applicant
The applicant’s legal representative Mr Richard Taylor informed the Sub-Committee that the applicant, William Hill Organisation (William Hill) operated 2,200 betting shops throughout the country 27 of which were located in Brent. He referred to a brochure circulated at the meeting that showed boarded up shops in the Ealing Road area, the grant of planning permission by Brent Council for use of the premises for betting and a certificate of social responsibility and high standards awarded by “Gamcare” (the body responsible for the audit of betting shops) to William Hill. He added that although the William Hill shops were all sited in town centres with some near to schools, the organisation had never been prosecuted for allowing under age children to bet in their shops. In reference to the number of incidents documented in the bundle of papers, Mr Taylor took grave exception to the evidence provided by the Police and submitted in support of William Hill that only 3 had actually taken place at 202 Ealing Road and in some cases members of staff of William Hill had called the Police to remove a customer/s from the betting office, showing the co-operation that existed between William Hill and the Police. Mr Taylor conveyed to the Committee that it was in fact William Hill taking the sensible approach by informing the Police of the crime and disorder occurring around its betting shops rather than the other way around. Based on the Police evidence he felt that William Hill had been portrayed in a bad light which was simply not the case. He drew members’ attention to the list of conditions including “mag locks” submitted by William Hill for the grant of the premises betting office.
Councillor Cheese sought clarification about the number of staff proposed to manage the branch at any one time. The Council’s legal representative enquired as to whether William Hill had conducted market research in support of the application.
In response to members’ questions, Mr Taylor stated that there would be a total of 6 members of staff and only 1 member would be available up to midday and thereafter a maximum of 2. He added that there was no need for a market research as part of this application although his client was well aware of the demand for betting services in the area.
Relevant authority making a representation
The legal representative for the Metropolitan Police Luke Ponte re-affirmed the police’s objection to the grant of a betting premises licence on the grounds that it would not satisfy the licensing objectives of prevention of crime and disorder and the protection of children and other vulnerable groups from being exploited. He added that the location of the premises within the town centre which was a “hot spot” for street robberies and in close proximity to local schools, a religious temple and another betting office operated by William Hill was inappropriate for use as a betting shop. Mr Ponte emphasised that there was a strong co-relation between criminal activities and gambling shops, drawing members’ attention to a list of criminal incidents (92) between April and September 2010, 51 of which involved William Hill shops. In his view the conditions submitted by William Hill for the grant of premises betting office were inadequate to ensure the achievement of the licensing objectives.
The Licensing Officer, Brent Police PC Nicola McDonald drew members’ attention to the catalogue of incidents as set out in the police’s submissions to reinforce the inappropriateness of the premises for a betting licence. She added that Ealing Road was subject to dispersal orders as a result of street drinking and serious social crime involving “Tamil gangs”. As local betting offices were used by street drinkers to socialise and to seek shelter during bad weather, they fuelled anti-social behaviour and proved intimidating to ordinary citizens.
Witnesses
Mr Davda, a local pharmacist informed the Sub-Committee that the operation of the premises for use as a betting shop would in his opinion lead to an increase in street crime in the area. He added that the opening of a new betting office so close to another branch at 202 Ealing Road and in close proximity to Alperton Community School and a religious temple was neither necessary nor desirable as it would only fuel crime and anti-social behaviour in the area and therefore result in a detriment to the area.
Mrs Margaret Rafee the Head teacher of Alperton Community School expressed her concerns and stated that in her view it would be inappropriate to grant betting licence to an establishment that would be about 10 metres away from her school due to safety concerns for students and staff and increased anti-social behaviour. Mrs Rafee continued that the operation of a betting shop at 284 Ealing Road would seriously undermine the efforts being made by schools about educating young people on knife crime and anti-social behaviour. She also expressed her full support for the petition organised by local traders and the views expressed by the Police against the grant of premises licence for betting.
Decision
At this point, the premises licence holder, his representatives and the responsible authority were asked to leave the room to allow the Sub-Committee to discuss the relevant issues concerning the application.
Having considered the evidence presented to it on behalf of the applicant and the Police, the Sub-Committee decided that the application by William Hill Organisation Ltd for a betting premises licence for “William Hill” (284 Ealing Road, Wembley, Middlesex HA0 4LL) pursuant to the provisions of the Gambling Act 2005 be granted subject to the following conditions;
1. All cameras and recording equipment will be installed and maintained in accordance with the manufactures instructions and will be fully operational when the premises are open to the public. CCTV cameras will be installed to cover the entrance, gaming machines and rear access [if within the customer area] An overt monitor will be installed and will be facing the customer area to show customers that they are being recorded.
2. The medium upon which images are recorded, will be clearly identifiable, stored securely, retained for a period of up to 31 days and be made available to the Council and Police Officers on request.
3. Notices shall be displayed at the entrance to the premises, and in prominent positions throughout the premises, advising that CCTV is in operation. For the purpose of these CCTV conditions ‘the Police’ refers to the licensing/partnership office of Wembley Police Station, and ‘the Licensing Authority’ refers to the Licensing Authority of the London Borough of Brent’
4. The premises to install all aspects of Raid Control to the requirement of the Metropolitan Police Crime Reduction Officer save for the requirement to utilise smoke and dye packs
5. A clear visible and unobstructed view of the premises will be afforded at all times. Approximately 75% of the shop frontage will be clear. [A single display board will be placed in the window-as shop plan FINAL/L/NL/B/607/02E]
6. The premises to adopt and advertise a scheme requiring all patrons under 21 years of age to produce identification with the accepted forms of identification namely a passport or photo driving licence
7. Gambling Compliance Forms will be completed daily and all incidents are recorded on a daily basis. This will be available to the Police and responsible authorities upon request.
8. The following signs will be displayed:
Think 21
No Persons Under 18 yrs
No Alcohol
No Smoking
Persons will be prosecuted for causing criminal damage.
9. The premises will have an intruder alarm and a panic button connected to the alarm system.
10. A fire alarm and smoke detection system will be installed
11. Doors and windows will remain closed. A maglock electronic door release will be fitted to the entrance door controlled by the staff from the counter to be used at all times.
12. Toilets will remain locked and access given by staff.
13. A minimum of 2 members of staff to be present on the licensed premises at all times.
In arriving at its decision, the Sub-Committee added that the applicant should use best endeavours to work in partnership with the Head teacher of Alperton Community School in order to safeguard children from being harmed or exploited by gambling.
Note: Councillor Long withdrew from the meeting room during the consideration of this application as she had declared a personal interest as a member of the Planning Committee that granted the planning permission for the premises. Councillor HM Patel chaired the meeting for this application only.