Redlands Liberal Democrats

Action taken against Kings Tavern management

It was the Kings Tavern licence review hearing this morning.

This review - the second this year - was triggered by Thames Vallley Police.

I attended the first bit of the hearing as an observer.

It wasn't a very edifying site: barristers for Admiral Taverns and the Designated Premises Supervisor, Mrs Sama attempted to shift the blame on to each other for the recent licence breaches and problems at the pub.

It felt like a bit like an episode of Eastenders or another soap opera - except that the decision could have a real impact on the community.

All credit to Cllrs Jeanette Skeats, Cllr Jamie Chowdhary and Cllr Bet Tickner for finding their way through the claims and counter-claims. It's not an easy thing to do.

And as I've said before the Licensing Act 2003 does not make the role of councils and councillors straightforward in relation to licensing matters.

I was very grateful to Sergeant Dai Davies who was representing the Police for pointing out that this review was brought in the public interest and that failure to adhere to the licence - by, as was alleged, selling alcohol whilst the licence was submitted constituted a serious matter.

The incident was witnessed by a member of the public who bravely reported the incident and attended the hearing. Without his evidence no action could be taken against the management of this venue.

Anyway, I had to go to work but I have just heard via licensing officers that the Committee resolved to:

• Remove the current D.P.S from the Kings Tavern
• Not to revoke the premises licence

The D.P.S, Mrs Sama, has 21 days to appeal against this decision or it will take effect. An appeal is likely, I'm told.

Although the Police did not have enough evidence to press criminal charges against Mrs Sama, the fact that this was the second licence review that had taken place on her watch, and due to the seriousness of the allegations regarding illegal alcohol sales it is not surprising that councillors sought today to cut short her stint in charge.

Admiral Taverns did not support Mrs Sama during the hearing and are in the process of trying to evict her from the pub.

The Legal representative of Admiral Taverns was at pains to ensure that the pub company was not held responsible for problems the Kings Tavern.

This was because they are keen to sell the pub with a current premises licence.

To complicate matters further we are aware this pub is in the process of being sold.

All we can hope for at this stage is that after the recent troubles new management will take over at the Kings Tavern soon, put these problems behind them, and work to help turn it into a community pub.

Police call for action to be taken against Kings Tavern management

Yesterday I got the papers through from RBC in connection with the licence review of the Kings Tavern on Kings Road.

This is a serious chapter in the recent troubled history of this venue as the latest application for a review of the licence comes from Superintendent Steve Kirk of Thames Valley Police.

The grounds for the review are set out as follows in the agenda papers:

'Thames Valley Police have serious concerns that firstly, an unauthorised Licensable Activity has been carried out at the premises otherwise than authorised and secondly that ther is an unsuitable Designated Premises Supervisor, resulting in lack of control, therefore, the Premises Licence Holder has undermined the licensing objective of the Prevention of Crime and Disorder.'

In plain English what happened was this: on 6 July 2009 an observer witnessed alcohol being served by the DPS to customers during the period when the pub's licence had been suspended by the Council's licensing committee.

The Police are now calling for the removal of the Designated Premises Licence Holder, Augusta Sama and for the Premises Licence of the Kings Tavern to be revoked.

As ward councillors for the area we had been closely monitoring what has been going on at this venue following the review in May.

We have had serious concerns about the competence of the management at this venue for over a year.

This follows a number of complaints we have received from residents living nearby about noise and anti-social behaviour.

So we are grateful to the Police for pursuing this action and hope it will lead to a better managed venue in future for the benefit of customers and residents.

A panel of Councillors will meet on Friday 27 November to decide what action should be taken.

You can access the agenda and background papers for the review meeting which will be held in the Council Chamber of the Civic Offices (and is open to the public) here.

Options open to councillors range from taking no action, modifying the conditions of the licence to removing the designated premises licence supervisor or revoking the licence.

Unfortuanately due to the vagaries of Labour's Licensing Act 2003 the ability of ward councillors to participate in the licensing process is severely limited so we are reliant of members of the Panel (who represent other wards) doing the right thing.

In the past we have felt that the Council has pulled it's punches when dealing with problems at this venue.

For this reason we hope the councillors on the panel take decisive action on Friday to prevent more serious problems occuring at this venue in the future.

Kings Tavern Licence to be reviewed again

We learned earlier this week that the Kings Tavern on Kings Road in Redlands is set to have its licence reviewed for the second time this year.

This news is depressingly familiar.

In the Summer a few weeks after the first licence review we expressed our fears that problems would recur at this venue.

RBC officers have informed us that Thames Valley Police have instigated this latest review of the licence after the operators of the Kings Tavern were found to have sold alcohol during the period a few months ago when this venue was ordered by RBC's licensing committee to close.

This follows the suspension of the licence which occured after serious breaches of the licence. Problems at this venue caused a lot of nuisance to neighbours - nuisance that was reported into the Council on numerous occasions.

If proved to be true these allegations are very serious and we hope RBC Licensing will deal with these latest breaches proportionately, appropriately but above all else effectively.

We do not want to be in this position again with this venue in a few months time.

I have been in contact with officers about the details of this review. They have advised as follows: anyone is now able to make a representation to Licensing until 2nd November 2009.

It is important that the information is current, i.e. since the reopening in July and relevant to one of the licensing objectives. Contact me if you need more info.

The hearing date will be set once the consultation period is over, after this the hearing date will be communicated.

What next for the troubled Kings Tavern?

A few weeks ago I blogged about the "re-vamp" of the Kings Tavern on Kings Road following it's enforced closure in June by Reading Borough Council following months of problems.

The pub is due to re-open this Friday.

My colleagues and I shared residents' serious concerns that problems identified previously at the venue could recur.

Our concerns were heightened further when we learned that the operators of this venue had applied for temporary event licences for late night events later this month.

Our fears are based on the fact that we received a very large number of complaints from local residents about this venue relating to noise and serious anti-social behaviour. This prompted us to support residents in their calls for a review of the licence earlier this year.

We are very supportive of all local venues in the ward which add something to the local community and which do there best to abide by licensing rules and regulations about noise etc to ensure that local people are not disturbed.

I have actively supported the campaign to re-open the Jolly Anglers in Newtown: a much-missed community pub.

Operators of pubs which are located in quiet residential parts of town, like the Kings Tavern, have to do more than those running town centre venues to ensure they do not cause a nuisance to neighbours.

There are plenty of local pubs in Reading which manage to do this very successfully.

Today's getreading story confirms what I heard recently that Admiral Taverns has put the Kings Tavern up for sale and have given Ms Sama, the Landlady, 28 days to leave.

Throughout this process Ms Sama seems not to have been in control of events at this venue and her comments today are no different:

'Pub manager Amida Sama, who has spent £10,000 on the refurb, was left shocked when the Post broke the news yesterday, adding: “I had no idea about this, but I will look into it.”

It is not clear what the future holds for the Kings Tavern. We hope that the new owners - whoever they are - will be able to turn this venue into a thriving community pub although I have my doubts if that is possible.

Given where it is located it will be vital that the new owners of this venue don't repeat the mistakes made by Ms Sama and Admiral Taverns.

Jury still out on Kings Tavern "makeover"

I read with interest today an article on the GetReading website about a planned re-vamp of the Kings Tavern on Kings Road. This follows the temporary closure of the pub following a license review in May.

The article says:

 "The Kings Tavern in Kings Road, which closed on Monday last week after its licence was suspended, will get a new look with plush seating, a revamped bar and pool tables...

During this time the pub will undergo a six-week makeover and will re-open its doors with a launch night on Friday, July 31.There will be live music from local bands and a raffle to raise money for Twyford-based charity Feed the Children.Homemade dishes from new breakfast and lunch menus will also be introduced."

I am concerned that there is no mention anywhere in the article about the steps the pub's management are taking to address the serious weaknesses at this venue identified by residents, councillors, council officers and Police officers and which resulted in months of disturbance to the local community.

As well as ordering the temporary closure of this venue, a number of conditions were also attached to the license to try to reduce noise disturbance and to ensure more effective management of the venue.

While it is positive to hear that the pub's management are keen to welcome local people back in to the pub they need to understand that in order to rebuild good relations with neighbours they will need to keep a much closer eye on activites at the venue to stop trouble before it starts.

We will be keeping in touch with residents who live nearby to ensure that any problems should they occur are resolved quickly.

You can help us by reporting any future problems to the authorities should they occur in the future to:

• Reading Borough Council Licensing section 0118 939 0678

  Reading Borough Council Environmental Health (Noise) team: 0118 939 0937 (daytimes) 0118 939 0900 out of hours.

• Police: 0845 8 505 505 (24hr asb hotline) or 999.

 

 

Kings Tavern update

Following the decision of the Council's licensing committee earlier this month to suspend the licence of the Kings Tavern on Kings Road, we have been contacted by constituents alarmed to see this venue continuing to trade as normal.

I received the following email from licensing officers which hopefully clarifies the position:

"Following the committee hearing, Committee Services circulate the draft minutes of the hearing, which are checked by panel members, legal and licensing.  When agreed, the minutes are published.  On their receipt, which in this case was approx 16.00 hours on 27/05/09, a letter, which in this case will hopefully go out today, is sent to the applicant confirming the result.   We allow 2 days for first class delivery after which the applicant has 21 days in which to lodge an appeal against the decision to the local Magistrates' Court.  If NO appeal is lodged within the 21 days, then the decision imposed at the licensing hearing is immediately implemented on day 22.  However, if AN APPEAL IS LODGED, then the decision imposed, (in this case a suspension), will not come into force until the appeal is heard.

You will appreciate therefore, it is a little difficult to be specific as to the exact start date of the suspension in this case.  However, in the meantime, it would be appreciated if your constituents will continue to keep accurate records of any noise or other incidents which may take place, as there is still a noise abatement order in place for the premises."

 

Kings Tavern: licence suspended but will things improve?

Last night I spoke on behalf of local residents who have had to put up with months of disturbance caused by the Kings Tavern on Kings Road.

As I reported in March a review of the licence held by the Kings Tavern was triggered by the environmental protection section of the Council, following months of noise complaints by local residents living nearby.

I was extremely shocked by what I heard at the licensing committee hearing.

Over the past few months, in addition to complaints from residents about noise and anti-social behaviour, the management of the Kings Tavern failed a test purchasing visit by RBC Trading Standards and Thames Valley Police and were found selling alcohol to underage people.

The management have also been responsible for holding a late night party earlier this year that got so out of hand it resulted in additional Police officers having to be brought in from outside the Borough to tackle public order offences.

These serious lapses are wholly unacceptable in what is largely a residential area with large numbers of families, elderly people and families living nearby. The reports I received from residents were distressing and caused at least one couple to move out of the area.

This pub has been a problem venue for many months. Last summer I campaigned to support residents who did not want to see its licence extended. The application was withdrawn following the scale of local objection.

What I find particularly unsatisfactory about the way events unfolded at the Kings Tavern is that the management were repeatedly warned by both the Council and the Police to get control of the venue, tackle problems or face a licence review.

Despite these warnings the problems continued and we continued to receive complaints from increasingly exasperated local residents.

As a result of last night's licensing hearing the premise licence held by the DPS at the Kings Tavern has been suspended for 28 days to allow them to put in place new regulations and policies. A number of new conditions have also been attached designed to reduce noise breakout and other problems.

The new conditions are welcome, however, I personally would have liked to have seen either the Council or the pub company consider enforcing a change of management at this venue if possible.

I do not see why local residents should have to put up with further nuisance.

I hope that this decision will be a wake-up call to the management of the Kings Tavern.

If not, I will support residents in pressing for a revocation of the licence. For that to happen we will need evidence of nuisance caused.

I would urge any residents disturbed by noise or other problems relating to this venue in the future to report it to the authorities so that action can be taken :

• Reading Borough Council Licensing section 0118 939 0678

• Reading Borough Council Environmental Health (Noise) team: 0118 939 0937 (daytimes) 0118 939 0900 out of hours.
• Police: 0845 8 505 505 (24hr asb hotline) or 999.

UPDATE:

Today's Evening Post has the story.

Licensing update

Following my post earlier this month about the forthcoming licence review of the Kings Tavern on Kings Road after a long period of nuisance caused by this venue, I have been notified that the review hearing will be held on 28 April at 5pm. Councillors and officers will hear from the licensee and also take in to account comments submitted by residents and also the Police.

Let's hope something is agreed in April which will reduce disturbance to local people by rowdy behaviour and other problems at this venue.

Residents who have been affected by noise or any other problems related to this venue wishing to comment can do so until that date: details how to here.

In other news, we continue to have concerns about 79 London Road, a venue where there have been a lot of noise and other related problems in recent years.

The issue came to a head last December when councillors on the Licensing Panel, in my view, missed an opportunity  to take tough action against the venue.

Licensees at this venue were required to make substantial improvements to noise insulation to prevent noise breakout and, as we feared, they have not done any work to the venue due to 'lack of funds'.

In addition, the exclusion agreed by Panel members in December which required that no live music be played for a period of 3 months has now come to an end. Also, as we are now in a new year the licensee can apply for up to 12 Temporary Event Notice (T.E.N) which allows him to hold late night events above and beyond hours agreed in the premises license.

Disgracefully, these notices are not subject to public consultation as I pointed out last year.

So, overall a far from satisfactory situation for residents living in the vicinity of 79 London Road.

One thing to draw attention to, however , a noise abatement notice issued at the end of last year is still in place and should a breach of the notice (late night noise) be witnessed then further legal action could be taken.

This means residents disturbed by noise from this venue should contact RBC's Environmental Health team to report any noise break out on 0118 939 0937 (daytime) or 0118 939 0900 (out of hours).

Please feel free to contact me about issues at either of these two venues if you have any concerns or queries.

Kings Tavern set for review

I have just heard from officers that the Kings Tavern on Kings Road is set to have it's premises licence reviewed. The reason for doing this is to get several new conditions added to the license which stop the premise being used outside its licensed hours and therefore disturbing residents.

We are very pleased to see action is being taken at long last by the Council after repeated requests by residents and ourselves.

Glenn Goodall and I picked up concerns from local residents in the area about noise and other nuisance in January and communicated these to officers.

The Kings Tavern is on the edge of a densely populated, residential area. Other venues in the area take care to respect the local neighbourhood and local residents by keeping noise levels down. Sadly, the same approach has not been taken by the Kings Tavern licensees, despite repeated warnings by RBC officers.

This follows huge problems at this venue last year. This culminated in the licensee's application to extend trading hours being withdrawn due to the scale of objections.

I have written this morning to the Police to urge them to support residents and request changes to the premises licence held by this venue.

Officers would like to hear from residents disturbed by noise at this venue. Written representations should be emailed to ross.jarvis@reading.gov.uk as soon as possible. This will help strengthen the case.

Kings Tavern complaints

Glenn and I have been picking up complaints from local residents about more noise and other nuisance connected with the Kings Tavern on Kings Road. This follows a lot of problems last year.

Following our discussions, RBC licensing officers had a meeting with the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) and the area manager for the brewery this week to discuss noise issues.  They were left in no doubt by officers that unless noise nuisance stops immediately they could face prosecution.

To repeat the message I gave people last year, residents are in the driving seat here in terms of being able to call for a licence review so it is vital that anyone in the local area who is disturbed reports it to the following agencies:

• Reading Borough Council Licensing section 0118 939 0678

• Reading Borough Council Environmental Health (Noise) team: 0118 939 0937 (daytimes) 0118 939 0900 out of hours.
• Police: 0845 8 505 505 (24hr asb hotline) or 999.

NB When calling the Police please request a URN (Unique Reference Number) to ensure you have a record of your call which you can quote in correspondence etc.