The Langley

Another application for a 3am Music & Dancing licence in the heart of residential Covent Garden has bitten the dust, thanks to Westminster City Council. This decision is now being challenged, as the applicant has lodged an appeal.

The vast basement space under the recently opened Marks & Spencer store in Long Acre was granted permission to be used for A3 use (Food & Drink). The entrance/exit is located between 5 and 6 Langley Street, just off Long Acre. The premises are capable of accommodating more than 1,200 people, but due to the restricted fire escape routes a maximum of 'only' 500 people are allowed to be on the premises during licensing hours. No sooner had the construction of this cavernous space been completed or applications were made for a Justices' licence and a Public Entertainment licence by the owner of 'The Spot', a lively late-night music & entertainment venue in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden.

The application for a Justices' On-licence resulted in an appeal hearing earlier this year, when the licensee was successful in having a 'no vertical drinking' condition removed. His application for a Music & Dancing licence until 3am each night of the week was heard over two days by the licensing Sub-committee of Westminster City Council on 3rd and 22nd June 1999.

Councillors Richard Tallboys and Mushtaq Qureshi patiently sat through evidence from 5 local residents and 2 CGCA representatives. After a visit to the site and evidence from the applicant, they granted a provisional licence until 1am with a number of conditions and undertakings. The Justices' licence already has a condition attached which requires that no noise from the premises is audible in any nearby premises or on the public highway. The 1am M&D Licence restricts the entertainment to 'background music, DJ and dancing'; no deliveries are to be made to the premises before 8am; patrons leaving the premises will be supervised by door staff and reminded by notices to leave quietly.

Despite the refusal to grant a licence until 3am, the CGCA is disappointed that Westminster City Council has granted a Public Entertainment licence at all in this location. There are no other premises in the immediate vicinity that are licensed beyond normal restaurant closing hours and the nearest M&D licence is in the Piazza, where there are very few residents. The area around Long Acre, Langley Street, Neal Street and Shelton Street is very residential. Currently, it gets relatively quiet at night, especially after Covent Garden Underground station closes, soon after midnight. It is feared that the grant of this licence will result in one of the few remaining quieter enclaves in Covent Garden to be inundated with 500 happy, boisterous, noisy, party-popping people between 1am and 2am, or even later if the appeal is upheld.

© Covent Garden Community Association, June 1999

 

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