David Nevitt

David “Dave” Nevitt is an award-winning environmental health, public-safety and licensing consultant with more than 40 years of professional experience.

A senior member of the Complete Licensing expert team, Dave provides environmental health assessments, public-nuisance advice, compliance inspections and expert evidence for licensed premises, hospitality businesses and major events.

Dave spent the majority of his career with Westminster City Council, where he developed extensive knowledge of the environmental health and licensing challenges faced by businesses operating in one of the UK’s busiest hospitality and night-time economies.

More than 40 years of environmental health experience

Dave qualified as an Environmental Health Officer in 1982 after obtaining the Diploma in Environmental Health. He subsequently completed the Diploma in Acoustics and Noise Control in 1984.

After training with the London Borough of Enfield, Dave went on to work across nine London boroughs. Although he undertook assignments in Southwark, Croydon, Brent, Camden, Barnet, Hillingdon and Lambeth, most of his career was spent with Westminster City Council.

Dave worked for Westminster between 1985 and his retirement in April 2023. His responsibilities covered a broad range of environmental health and regulatory matters, including noise and pollution control, occupational health and safety, food safety and hygiene, housing and residential environmental health, public-nuisance investigations, premises licensing, regulatory inspections, complaint investigations, evidence gathering and enforcement proceedings.

Dave also gave evidence in the Magistrates’ Court on numerous occasions. This required him to prepare evidence carefully, explain technical environmental health matters clearly and respond professionally to questions and challenges.

Environmental health and premises licensing

For approximately 15 years, Dave was a key member of Westminster City Council’s Licensing Consultation Team.

In that position, he performed the Responsible Authority function under the Licensing Act 2003 and helped implement Westminster’s licensing policy.

Westminster contains one of the largest and most diverse concentrations of licensed premises in the country. Its licensed economy includes cafés, restaurants, pubs, hotels, nightclubs, theatres, music venues, private members’ clubs and internationally significant events.

Dave regularly assessed applications for new premises licences, full and minor licence variations, premises-licence reviews, temporary events, proposed operating schedules, licence conditions, public-nuisance complaints and public-safety arrangements.

His role required him to determine whether proposed operations would promote the licensing objectives, particularly the prevention of public nuisance and the protection of public safety.

This gave Dave extensive experience of balancing the needs of hospitality businesses with the rights of residents and the expectations of regulatory authorities.

Noise, nuisance and customer dispersal

Noise and public nuisance are among the most common reasons for objections to premises-licence applications and reviews.

Dave holds a Diploma in Acoustics and Noise Control and has decades of practical experience assessing noise from licensed premises, hospitality businesses and public events. His work can include examining:

• amplified and live music;
• customer noise;
• people entering and leaving premises;
• queues and smoking areas;
• outside drinking;
• deliveries and waste collections;
• mechanical plant and ventilation;
• extraction systems;
• cooking odours;
• premises layouts, doors and windows;
• background noise levels; and
• dispersal arrangements.

Dave understands that environmental health concerns cannot always be assessed reliably from written complaints alone. Where appropriate, he can visit premises during relevant operating hours, observe how the business is managed and assess conditions in surrounding residential areas.

He can then identify whether an operation is likely to cause a nuisance and recommend practical measures to reduce its impact.

Practical environmental health solutions

Dave’s advice is based on what can be implemented successfully in a working hospitality business. Depending on the premises and the concerns raised, his recommendations may include improved door and window management, revised customer-dispersal procedures, controls for smoking and outside drinking areas, staff monitoring of neighbouring streets, changes to delivery and waste-collection times, noise-management plans, improved incident and complaint records, staff training, restrictions on outside speakers, acoustic improvements, adjustments to plant and extraction systems, clearer management responsibilities, and appropriate and proportionate licence conditions.

The objective is to provide effective protection for neighbours while allowing responsible businesses to operate successfully.

Professional qualifications

Dave’s professional qualifications include:

• Diploma in Environmental Health, 1982;
• Diploma in Acoustics and Noise Control, 1984; and
• Pearson SRF BTEC Level 7 Advanced Professional Certificate in Investigative Practice, 2021.

The Level 7 qualification in investigative practice complements Dave’s environmental health experience. It supports his evidence gathering, complaint assessment and preparation of structured professional reports.

These qualifications allow Dave to consider environmental health and licensing matters from several connected perspectives, including public nuisance, acoustics, public safety, regulatory compliance and evidence-based investigation.

Independent industry recognition

In November 2023, Dave received the Institute of Licensing Chairman’s Special Recognition Award.

The award recognised his outstanding environmental health and licensing career and his tireless work within London’s West End.

The Institute noted that Dave had been at the heart of many major licensing and planning applications and praised his extensive knowledge of environmental health and licensing legislation.

Importantly, the Institute recognised both sides of Dave’s professional approach: taking appropriate enforcement action against poor operators while working constructively and fairly with responsible businesses.

This balanced approach is central to Dave’s work with Complete Licensing.

Major events and public safety

Dave’s environmental health career extends well beyond individual licensed premises. He has worked on some of London’s largest and most complex public events, including Notting Hill Carnival, Hyde Park concerts, royal celebrations, Trafalgar Square events, Chinese New Year festivities and London Pride.

Major events present distinctive environmental health and public-safety challenges. Large crowds, amplified music, temporary structures, food concessions, sanitation, emergency access and the movement of people all require careful assessment and coordination.

Dave has served on numerous Safety Advisory Groups, working alongside event organisers, the Metropolitan Police, London Fire Brigade, London Ambulance Service and different council departments.

This experience gives him a detailed understanding of how environmental health, licensing, emergency planning and event management must work together.

Pre-application environmental health advice

Dave has considerable experience of providing advice before a premises-licence application is submitted. Early environmental health advice can help an operator identify potential problems and develop appropriate safeguards before objections are received.

Dave can review proposed premises plans, operating hours, customer capacities, music and entertainment proposals, outdoor areas, smoking arrangements, deliveries and waste collections, mechanical plant and extraction, customer arrival and dispersal, proposed licence conditions, and noise and public-safety policies.

This can strengthen an application and demonstrate that the operator has considered its effect on neighbouring residents and businesses.

David Nevitt and Complete Licensing

Through Complete Licensing, Dave helps hospitality businesses understand what environmental health officers and licensing authorities expect from a responsible operator. His services include environmental health assessments, public-nuisance evaluations, noise and customer-dispersal reviews, public-safety inspections, premises-capacity advice, health and safety assessments, compliance inspections, investigation of complaints, review of operating schedules, review and interpretation of licence conditions, pre-application advice, noise-management plans, policy and procedure development, written expert reports, and expert evidence at licensing hearings and appeals.

Dave can inspect premises during normal or late-night operation, assess the behaviour of customers and staff, examine surrounding residential conditions and review the effectiveness of existing management controls.

Complete Licensing’s guidance on preventing public nuisance reflects this practical approach. It helps operators understand and manage noise, odour, litter, waste, street fouling and artificial lighting.

Practical, balanced and independent advice

Dave understands environmental health and licensing from both sides of the regulatory process.

He has investigated complaints, conducted inspections, recommended enforcement action and presented evidence on behalf of a responsible authority. He now uses that experience to help operators prevent problems, improve their businesses and present credible evidence to licensing committees.

Where an operator needs to improve, Dave will identify what must change. Where a well-managed business faces objections or allegations that are not supported by the available evidence, he can provide an objective professional assessment.

His conclusions are based on personal observations, recorded evidence, specialist environmental health knowledge and more than four decades of regulatory experience.

Learn more about the Complete Licensing expert-witness service to discuss how Dave can support your premises, event or licensing case.

Read more: Well-earned honour for Dave