Efes Snooker Club owner’s new project given green light after son loses court bid

Efes Snooker Club on Stoke Newington Road

The owner of a venue once branded a “crime generator” by police has seen plans for new premises in Dalston waved through by the council.

Hackney Council’s planning committee last night approved the proposals by Yasar Akin, the owner of Efes Snooker Club, to build premises designed to host diners and conferences on Crossway off Kingsland High Street.

The Hackney Citizen understands Akin’s son, Engin Akin, learnt only this week that he had been unsuccessful in his long-running court bid to overturn licensing restrictions imposed on Efes Snooker Club by the council. He has been ordered to pay the council £8,000 in costs.

Akin has been involved in managing his father’s snooker club business, which was stripped of its alcohol licence after police branded it a “crime generator” three years ago. Press coverage at the time noted the venue’s popularity with celebrities including Alexa Chung and Kelly Osbourne.

At a hearing about its licence, police referred to multiple alleged breaches. Among the incidents cited by the Met was an occasion where an undercover police officer was able to bring a weapon into the bar unchallenged.

After the club’s alcohol licence was reinstated, Engin Akin went to court to try and overturn Hackney Council’s decision not to permit the club to stay open until the early hours of the morning on some nights. But in a court judgement released this week and seen by the Hackney Citizen, District Judge Angus Hamilton wrote that Akin had been “evasive and less than candid” when asked questions in court.

The judge added: “After hearing from the applicant I formed the conclusion that he was a dishonest witness who repeatedly used the tactic of denying responsibility for the poor running of licensed premises with which he had, in fact, had close involvement.”

The judge made critical comments regarding Akin’s involvement in running the White House pub opposite Clissold Park, which was visited by police a number of times between 2010 and 2012 because of complaints about alleged flouting of licensing rules.

Islington Council later successfully took legal action against the venue for breaching noise warnings and allowing people to smoke shisha in its rear garden.

The White House pub, which is currently closed

According to newspaper reports from 2013, the licensee, believed to be Yasar Akin, was fined hundreds of pounds and was also ordered to pay the council costs and a £3,355 surcharge amounting to thousands of pounds.

Asked about these issues after last night’s planning committee meeting, Engin Akin said: “That’s nothing to do with this case.”

He said he would answer questions another time and insisted he was “about to” pay the £8,000 he owed Hackney Council.

Of the judge’s decision to reject his bid to overturn Hackney Council’s decision regarding Efes, he said: “We’re going to appeal this.”

Asked again today if he would like to comment, he suggested the judge had been wrong to bring past issues into the court process and told the Hackney Citizen: “We’ve been in Dalston for 20 to 25 years.”

The antecedents revealed in the court papers went unmentioned during last night’s planning committee meeting. However, they are likely to fuel concerns expressed by Dalston residents about the Akins’ new business venture on Crossway.

An artist’s impression of what the Crossway site will look like once the project is built. Image: JUB Studio

According to documents on Hackney Council’s website, some residents have already expressed safety concerns about “anti-social behaviour such as crime, drunkenness, drug taking, littering and general nuisance” which they say could result from the new venue.

Rio Cross Residents Association also objected to the scheme, arguing that extending the “entertainment zone” beyond Kingsland High Street into residential areas “would be difficult to control and manage, especially for police and wardens”.

The Crossway site as it currently looks

Dalston ward councillor Soraya Adejare and Shacklewell ward councillor Michelle Gregory objected to the plans. But Dalston ward councillor Peter Snell said he was neutral on the issue.

The planning committee, chaired by Cllr Vincent Stops, heard detailed licensing conditions had been agreed that would prevent the new Crossway venue from being legally used as a nightclub or for comedy nights or parties.

A council planning officer described the building, which is to be constructed on a site currently occupied by a car wash, as “an interesting contemporary addition to Crossway”, and a representative for the applicant suggested it would be used as a conference and dining venue.

In total 14 letters of objection were received as part of a consultation in which the council sent out 117 letters asking people for their views on the project.

The proposals were unanimously approved by the council’s planning committee. Cllr M Can Ozsen exempted himself from the proceedings because he knew the applicant.

A Hackney Council spokesperson confirmed the council had won the court case involving Efes and that the £8,000 costs awarded had not yet been paid – but they added that a “payment plan” had now been agreed.