The Sub-Committee were addressed by the applicant, Feliciano Cirimele, Environmental Protection Officer, Environmental Protection, Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, and were informed that the application related to the objective ‘the prevention of public nuisance’. The Sub-Committee were reminded that noise complaints and antisocial behaviour were discussed at the hearing last year and acknowledged by Pazzia with a commitment that the licence holder would work to improve the situation.

Mr Cirimele said that followingthis hearing, within weeks, Environmental Protection and Licensing continued receiving complaints from a neighbouring property relating to noise from customers at the front of the premises. The issues discussed at the previous hearing seemed to remain unresolved. In the last 12 months, officers had continued to engage with Pazzia to help resolve the problems, but the complaints continued and following investigations the complaints were substantiated.

Further attempts to engage with Pazzia to resolve the issues were undertaken by officers, but these had not been successful and thus as a last resort enforcement action was undertaken with the serving of a noise abatement notice and this review of the licence.

The Sub-Committee were informed that it was important to understand the location and layout of the area to better understand the complaints. This included the close proximity of the neighbouring property. Pictures were available within the report.

The area outside at the front of the premises, which included the main entrance, was beneath a bedroom window of the neighbouring property. This area was also the outdoor seating and the main smoking area of Pazzia. Under the current licence, this area could remain open to customers until after the premises closing times.

·         12:30 am on Monday and Tuesday

·         Midnight on Wednesday

·         01:00 am from Thursday to Saturday

·         11:00 pm on Sunday

Pazzia was located on London Road, with a small area at the front of the building where customer arrived, left or waited for taxis. This meant that even after closing time, customers could still loiter within the area. Noise and disturbance that have occurred at the front of the premises includes:

·         Raised voices

·         Disorderly behaviour, and

·         Loud engine noises

The evidence showed that the unrestricted and inadequately managed use of the area at the front of the building was having a detrimental impact on the neighbouring property.

The Sub-Committee were informed that there was evidence that the noise from customers leaving the premises and from using the outdoor seating areas were not being managed and addressed within terms of the license. It was felt by officers that the licensing objective, the Prevention of Public Nuisance, was not adequately promoted by Pazzia’s management and their staff.

This had been evidenced over the last 12 months by Environmental Protection investigating noise complaints by a neighbour. This work had been supported by community wardens, the Out of Hours service and the neighbour recording noise through monitoring equipment supplied to them.

Noise recordings had been made by the neighbour from a bedroom located directly above the outdoor seating and covering a period from 27^th April to 3th June 2019. The recordings showed that while indoor music noise was not significant, the external noise from customers was a serious disturbance.

Five of the recordings made were played at the hearing, including:

Recording 1 – made on Friday 10 May at 23:42 recorded voices, arguing and shouting.

Recording 2 – made on Saturday 11 May at 23:41 recorded loud engine exhaust and voices.

Recording 3 – made on Sunday 12 May at 00:31 recorded shouting and laughing.

Recording 4 – made on Sunday 2 June at 23:07 recorded screaming.

Recording 5 – made on Sunday 2 June at 23:14 recorded screaming.

As well as the audio recordings, the residents of Crossways Cottage had also kept diaries of the nuisance and these were included within the report.

On 16 July 2019, officers discussed the audio recordings with Mr Candido Rodrigues, brother of the licence holder. Officers warned Mr Rodrigues that based on the evidence, a review of the licence would be applied for. This would include new conditions, unless Pazzia applied for a variation of the licence so that these conditions could be added.

Mr Rodrigues was given 28 days to consider this option. During the meeting, he proposed that the area and tables at the front were used until 11pm when the front door would be locked, and lights switched off. After 11pm, an area at the side of the building would be used as smoking solution. Mr Rodrigues advised that he was willing to implement these changes immediately and was told that any changes would also need to be agreed with Licensing and be reflected in the licence.

On 20 August 2019, Mr Rodrigues confirmed that Pazzia would not apply for a variation. He was made aware that as a result of this decision Environmental Protection had no option but to apply for a review of the licence.

The Sub-Committee were also provided with other areas of concern that had been included within the report including on 14 September 2019 during an Night Time Economy (NTE) visit. The community wardens met Mr Rodrigues, who became extremely angry and agitated and stated that he would no longer move the smoking solution at the side of the building after 11pm. Mr Rodrigues made several comments about the complainant including threat to life which were reported to the police. One of the community wardens, Mr Ben Higgs, was in attendance to answer any questions. On 23 September 2019 a Nuisance Abatement Notice was served to Pazzia.

On 25 September 2019, Feliciano Cirimele received a call from Mr Rodrigues regarding the abatement notice. He discussed the requirements of the notice and the right to appeal it. Mr Rodrigues said that stopping the use of the outdoor seating at 10pm would have a negative impact on the business, but he was happy to stop the use at 11pm. Mr Rodrigues was informed of the previous advice that Pazzia would need to apply for a variation to add new conditions in the licence.

On Sunday 27 October 2019 at 12:05am the Out of Hours officer, after receiving a call from a resident, made a visit and witnessed 6 customers gathered outside and the noise from their voices could be clearly heard from a distance. The officer left the site at 12:40am with no evidence of the premise’s supervisor managing the behaviour of customers or staff.

On Saturday 16 November 2019 at 11:35pm the Out of Hours officer received another call from the resident and made a visit. The officer reported that at 11:48 pm they could hear loud voices emanating from Pazzia whilst in the complainant’s bedroom and with the double-glazed windows closed. The officer left the site at 12:10 am and said there was no evidence of a designated premises supervisor (DPS) managing the behaviour of customers.

On Saturday 18 January 2020 at 10:45pm the Out of Hours officer visited Pazzia and upon arrival the officer witnessed a group of five females sitting in the outside area. They had bottles of wine on their table and were laughing and smoking and he felt that it could have cause a noise nuisance.

The Sub-Committee were informed that from 5 January 2019 to 2 February 2020, Community Wardens had made about 135 visits to the premises and quite often there were people at the front of the building well after 11pm and sometimes up to 1am.

Details of all the incidents mentioned above were included within the agenda pack.

It was also highlighted to the Sub-Committee that within the current licence, there were no conditions to help control the use of the outside area to prevent noise and disturbance. Due to the evidence, it was recommended to create changes to the licence as set out in the application.

The Applicant thanked the Sub-Committee and was open to questions.