Amnesty UK has been granted a 365-day alcohol licence, despite objections from neighbours concerned over an increase in noise and anti-social behaviour.
The human rights organisation’s research office recently moved into Peter Benenson House in Clerkenwell. Its licence application attracted ten written objections from nearby residents.
Islington Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee meeting heard that the office applied for an ad-hoc licence to serve alcohol at regular board meetings and cultural events.
After deliberation, councillors Bashir Ibrahim, Marian Spall, and Nick Wayne approved the application. They added a condition to limit alcohol service between 17:00 until 21:00 to prevent noise continuing into the late evening.
Michelle O’Keefe, legal representative for Amnesty UK, said: “All of our activists are volunteers, so they come in either in the evenings or at weekends. We have a lot of board meetings at weekends. So, we need a licence from Monday to Sunday.”
Miles Hansard, a neighbour to Amnesty’s office, objected to the application and said in the meeting: “I wouldn’t say it’s the action of a good neighbour to apply for a 365-day alcohol licence and leave the neighbours to find out about it from a notice on a lamp post.”
Hansard said the blanket provision was: “More than what most people would think of as a few events. …Even pubs and nightclubs would have more restrictions on that”.
One resident, whose name has been redacted, wrote: “The physical situation of Peter Benenson house is if anything more problematic, because the building immediately adjoins the entire residential terrace, back-to-back.”
O’Keefe said: “We were originally based… in Shoreditch, where we had a licence for many decades. We operated there responsibly and without any issue.” She said, “[The events] will take place in the heart of the building, well away from residential properties.”
She added: “We have regular events, but the size will vary …In terms of having a full capacity, 80-person events, with music, or cultural displays and exhibits, they will be possibly once every few months.”
O’Keefe said Amnesty was keen to maintain good relations locally, “We definitely don’t want to upset our neighbours. These events are going to be modest.”
