Hove Burger King Faces Objections To 24-Hour Trading

Noise, cooking smells and smoke from a burger bar were blighting neighbour’s lives, a resident told a council licensing panel hearing today (Monday 2 June).

But Burger King franchise owner Jason Kennedy said that he brought in outsiders to check for smoke and smells and they couldn’t detect any.

The conflict of evidence played out as the licensing panel, made up of three councillors, prepared to decide whether to approve a late-night refreshment licence for a Burger King branch in Hove.

The branch, at the Goldstone Retail Park, in Old Shoreham Road, wants a late-night refreshment licence from 11pam to 5am, enabling the premises to trade 24/7.

Three neighbours spelt out their concerns, which also included litter and anti-social behaviour, and they were supported by one of their ward councillors.

Labour councillor Jackie O’Quinn, who represents Goldsmid ward, used to chair Brighton and Hove City Council’s Licensing Committee.

Councillor Jackie O’Quinn said that she was aware that many people in the area around the Goldstone Retail Park area were troubled by noise and anti-social behaviour.

Currently, the noise had stopped at 11pm when all the shops and restaurants were closed, she said.

But allowing Burger King to stay open from 11pm to 5am would give neighbours no respite.

She added:

“It’s having places open that encourages people, especially young people, to go there. This is also well away from the town centre.

“It doesn’t need it in this area. There are plenty of places that people can call for a late-night delivery.

"I know there are other places that have a very late licence, for this company, where there aren’t many residents around.”

Robert Glick, of Goldstone Lane, close to Burger King’s premises, said that the neighbourhood was blighted by noise, cooking smells and smoke from venues in the retail park – and these caused neighbours stress.

He said that neighbours had not complained to the business or to environmental health because they did not feel that they would be listened to, having objected to planning applications for Burger King in 1999 and neighbouring Nando’s.

Mr Glick said:

“There is smoke. We can smell it. We know it’s there. All that affects us in health ways, both in terms of our lungs and the stress of knowing that it’s going on, as well as the frustration of not being able to make our objections successfully over the years.

“We’ve had many objections to many different applications and it all gets quite tiresome and sometimes I can understand why some residents aren’t interested in joining in yet another discussion.

“They think, oh well, it’s another one. It’s not going to go anywhere. We’re never going to win any of these.”

The Burger King franchise is run by Leon Kennedy Ltd, owned by Jason Kennedy, 49, and Justin Kennedy, 46.

Jason Kennedy said that, after reading the objections, he carried out several extra visits to the site and brought other managers along but could not see smoke or smell fumes.

He said that the restaurant’s ducts were cleaned every two months and the extractor fan was just three years old.

Alex Tomlinson, the solicitor for Leon Kennedy Ltd, said that the company had agreed draft licence conditions with Sussex Police. These included restricting trade from 11pm to 5am to drive-through customers only.

He said that the Goldstone Retail Park’s owner had an automatic number plate reader (ANPR) which restricted visitors to no more than 10 minutes in the car park after 11pm.

One of the members of the licensing panel, Labour councillor Andrei Czolak, asked what was to prevent customers on bicycles from stopping and eating in the outdoor area after using the drive-through.

Mr Tomlinson said:

“We’d be able to see them, in the first instance, so we would ask them to move on. Mr (Athar) Mobin (the manager) would be there with staff and would ask them to move on.

“If they wouldn’t and were reluctant, we would call our security services … They use a mobile unit and they would ask them to move on and hopefully that would be sufficient.”

Mobile security support was not a requirement in the original draft licence conditions but was mentioned as a potential condition by the panel which included Labour councillor Julie Cattell and Green councillor Kerry Pickett.

The panel retired to makes its decision which should be made public within five working days.