Islington's Licensing Sub-Committee B has approved a premises licence variation for The Archway, located at 1 Navigator Square, despite concerns from a local resident regarding potential noise. The decision, made on Tuesday 16 September 2025, allows for an expansion of the venue's smoking terrace. The applicant clarified that the terrace area was not currently utilized, and they would like it to operate when the club was not in operation.
The approved variation permits The Archway to extend the capacity of its smoking terrace to a maximum of 60 people when the rest of the venue is closed, operating from 9am to 1am on Sundays to Wednesdays, and from 9am to 2am on Thursdays to Saturdays. Condition 12 was amended to allow drinks to be taken onto the Terrace after 11pm when the rest of the venue is not in operation. Additionally, condition 25b was amended to allow one SIA operative after 11pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday when only the terrace is in operation, and condition 37 was amended to allow 30 people in the terrace from 11pm when the whole club is in operation.
The committee considered the application, referencing the Licensing Act 2003 and local licensing policies. According to the minutes of the previous meeting, the Licensing Authority had withdrawn its representation, leaving one representation from a resident.
The applicant clarified several points to the committee, including that retrospective planning permission had been submitted, work had been undertaken with Environmental Health to ensure compliance around smoking, and a Noise Management Plan and Acoustic Survey would be carried out to mitigate potential noise issues. The club allows 345 people and the terrace capacity will be 60. The terrace has a separate entrance and toilets, and only the waiter or waitress would enter the bar area when the terrace was trading.
The Sub-Committee noted that the premises falls within the Junction cumulative impact area and took into consideration Licensing Policies 2 and 3. According to the public reports pack, Licensing policy 3 creates a rebuttable presumption that applications for the grant or variation of premises licences which are likely to add to the existing cumulative impact will normally be refused following the receipt of representations, unless the applicant can demonstrate in the operating schedule that there will be no negative cumulative impact on one or more of the licensing objectives.
The Sub-Committee concluded that the granting of the variation to the licence with the extensive conditions agreed would promote the licensing objectives. The Sub-Committee noted that the Terrace area could operate separately to the club and that patrons would not need to enter the main club/bar premises. The Sub-Committee was satisfied that the operating schedule demonstrated high standards of management and that the proposed use, with the extensive conditions agreed with slight amendments, meant that the premises would not add to the cumulative impact.
