Nightclub bid refused after owner admits ‘we don’t know nothing’
By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter
A woman has had her bid to open a nightclub turned down after admitting to councillors that she didn’t know anything about running a late night venue.
Lina Usma had asked Southwark council for permission to open club Barrio Latino until 4am in a residential area of Walworth.
Speaking at a council licensing meeting on Thursday, she apologised for oversights that meant the venue opened illegally in July before it had a licence, blaming the error on a former manager and her team’s lack of experience.
She said: “The previous manager is no longer working with us. It was our mistake to delegate it to someone who made lots of mistakes. It’s our first time running this kind of business. We don’t know nothing.”
Neighbours told the same meeting that the location wasn’t appropriate for a club and claimed they had already experienced nuisance from the venue operating unlawfully.
Resident Giada Migliavacca said: “This area is very quiet. I don’t understand why a club opening here would be considered for a business that hasn’t been following their own regulations before. It doesn’t give me any confidence they will in the future.”
The police and the local authority’s licensing team objected to the application, while Southwark council’s environmental health and trading standards departments raised concerns about aspects of the proposal.
A licensing committee made up of Councillor Suzanne Abachor, Cllr Barrie Hargrove and Cllr Sunny Lambe rejected the application.
Pictured top: The club would have been located in a railway arch in Walworth, near to a block of flats (Picture: Google Street View)