A sound system which stepped in to replace another group just weeks before Notting Hill Carnival has been refused a licence after police said they “do not have the resources” for a new stage.
The application for I Spy was made just before the licensing deadline of ten working days before this Bank Holiday Weekend’s carnival, which attracts one million revellers. The council wanted applications in six weeks beforehand so safety plans could be finalised.
I Spy applied to set up a sound system including DJs, MCs and engineers in Colville Gardens from noon to 7pm on Sunday and Monday.
However Kensington and Chelsea council ’s licensing committee heard a premises licence had already been given for up to 1,000 people at nearby Powis Square when the application was lodged.
In a report considered by the licensing committee, PC Ian Davis said a further music attraction nearby “would undermine police plans for crowd management in the area”.
Police gave evidence about general public safety concerns, not relating to the applicant, behind closed doors.
Ricky Belgrave the chairman of the British Association of Sound Systems (BASS), who represented I Spy at the hearing, said his organisation’s members had 38 sites across the carnival area over the last 15 years. He said there had never been any problems and the groups hold debriefs afterwards.
The police’s lawyer Bo-Eun Jung said: “When the police drew up their event planning in how they would keep the public safe in this sector, that was a premises that would be empty.”
She added: “The police do not have the resources to additionally police this new stage. That is something that has been decided at commander level.
“The potential for terrorism and crushing - in the policing view, it is not possible.”
The police agreed they would object to an application "that has been done at this late stage".
Mr Belgrave, who has DJed at carnival for 25 years said I Spy has been running since the 1970s and is family orientated.
He said I Spy stepped in after Nasty Love told him earlier this month they could not perform at this year’s carnival.
Mr Belgrave explained it was normal for one or two groups to drop out because of bereavement, sickness or work.
He submitted the application as soon as he heard, just before the licensing deadline. If there were fewer sound systems it would affect the crowds at carnival as more people would congregate around each one, he said. I Spy would have its own marshalls, he added.
Keith Mehaffy, the council’s senior environmental health officer for noise and nuisance, said he had already heard that Nasty Love would not be at carnival four to six weeks ago and did not expect the Colville Gardens spot to be used.
He told the committee: “We can’t change our plans at the last minute.”
The committee heard there was no dispute that I Spy’s application had been submitted by the legal deadline.
The licensing committee also turned down an application for the Platinum Soul sound system at Portobello Road, which was not submitted six weeks before carnival. Police said a licence was already given for a sound system at the junction with Faraday Road. It was concerned there would be “congestion and the blockage” of Portobello Road if a further licence was approved.
Earlier, the committee heard police had withdrawn objections to a bar run by the Disco Hustlers sound system where DJ Toddla T, who has 79,000 Facebook fans, is due to perform.
