Agenda and minutes

The panel is requested to elect a Chairman for the hearing in line with rules agreed by the Licensing and Safety Committee. 

 The Panel agreed to appoint Councillor Mrs Diane Chambers as Chairman.

To agree that the Chairman, after consultation with the other members of the panel, sign the record of this meeting outside the meeting. 

To agree that the Chairman, after consultation with the other members of the panel, sign the record of this meeting outside the meeting. 

There were none. 

The Chairman will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he/she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report. 

There were none. 

A member need only disclose at any meeting the existence of a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) in a matter to be considered at that meeting if that DPI has not been entered on the disclosable pecuniary interests register maintained by the Monitoring Officer.

A member disclosing a DPI at a meeting must thereafter notify the Monitoring Officer in writing of that interest within 28 days from the date of disclosure at the meeting.

A member may not participate in a discussion of or vote on any matter in which he or she has a DPI (both those already registered and those disclosed at the meeting) and must withdraw from the room during such discussion/vote.

Members may choose to voluntarily disclose a DPI at a meeting even if it is registered on the council’s register of disclosable pecuniary interests but there is no legal requirement to do so.

Members should also ensure they disclose any other interests which may give rise to a conflict under the council’s code of conduct.

In line with the training provided to members by the Monitoring Officer members will also need to consider bias and pre-determination in certain circumstances and whether they have a conflict of interest or should otherwise leave the room for Code reasons. 

Disclosable pecuniary interests

There were none.

Other interests

There were none.

Discussion:

The Licensing & Local Land Charges Manager advised that, in accordance wit the Licensing Act 2003, the Council had received an application to vary a current Premises Licence in respect of late night refreshment for Papa Johns Pizza, 70 New Road, Chatham, ME4 4QR

This application had been correctly advertised in the local press and notices displayed at the premises for the required timescale. As stated at paragraph 1.2 of the report the application sought to be licensed for late night refreshment (outdoors) as follows:

The following documents were included in the report for consideration:

·                    Appendix A (pages 9 – 26) a copy of the original application submitted.

·                    Appendix B (pages 27 – 28) amendments made to the application

·                    Appendix C (pages 29 – 30) a copy of existing licence

·                    Appendix D (page 31) a location plan showing the approximate location of the application

·                    Appendix E (pages 32 – 37) copies of representations received from members of the public

In accordance with section 9.14 of the Amended Guidance to the Licensing Act, Licensing officers had been in discussion with the Council’s Planning team and had confirmed the current planning position under MC/13/0175 had been approved with conditions on 20 March 2014 for change of use of ground floor to Hot Food Takeaway (class A5) with opening hours Monday to Thursday 11:00 to 23:00hrs, Friday to Saturday 11:00 to 00:30hrs and Sundays and Public Holidays 11:00 to 22:30hrs.  In addition an application under MC/14/0341 had recently been refused on 21 March 2014 in relation to alterations to the opening hours to Friday – Saturday 11:00 to 03:00hrs and Sunday 11:00 to 01:00hrs.

The Licensing & Local Land Charges Manager confirmed that the application had been referred to the Panel for determination following receipt of relevant representations from members of the public as set out in Appendix E to the report.             

The Applicant apologised for his absence from the Licensing Hearing Panel held on 24 March 2014. He advised that the original application had been for the premises to open to all customers until 03:00hrs on Fridays and Saturdays and 01:00hrs on Sundays. In consultation with the Police the application had amended and it was proposed that the premises would close to members of the public at 12.30hrs and would only undertake telephone orders and deliveries after 12:30hrs. He noted that 95% of the objections had been in relation to possible noise and nuisance from nightclub clients visiting the shop to purchase takeaway food. The variation to close the premises to customers after 12.30hrs and to only undertake deliveries reflected the concerns of the objectors.

The Objector and the Panel then asked a number of questions and the Applicant responded as follows:

·                    The Objector agreed with the recommendation from the Police but asked the Applicant how he would deal with a group of late night revellers banging on the door of the shop demanding to be served.

            The Applicant responded that after closing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 975.

Discussion:

The Panel considered an application for a review of a premises licence by Kent Police, in respect of The Royal George Public House, 380 High Street, Chatham, Kent ME4 4NP.

              The Licensing and Local Land Charges Manager advised the meeting that the review related to the following licensing objective: the prevention of public nuisance. She confirmed that the application had been correctly advertised in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003. She also referred to and explained each of the appendices to the report. This included the existing premises licence (Appendix A), a plan showing the location of the premises (Appendix B), a copy of the review application (Appendix C) and three letters in support of the premises (Appendix D).

The Licensing and Local Land Charges Manager advised the meeting that in accordance with Section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003, the Council had received an application from Kent Police for a review of the existing premises licence in respect of the Royal George Public House, 380 High Street, Chatham.

The application had been correctly advertised by way of the display of notices at the premises and on the Council’s website for the required period, in accordance with regulations made under the Licensing Act 2003. Also, in accordance with the legislation, notice of the application (and the application itself) had been served on the licence holder and the other responsible authorities.

The premises currently operated by way of a premises licence granted in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003, a copy of which is attached at Appendix A f the report (pages 45 to 48).  A copy of a plan showing the location of the premises was attached at Appendix B (page 49). A copy of the review application was at Appendix C (pages 50 to 56) with supporting evidence at exempt Appendix D under Agenda Item 8 on the agenda. 

The Panel’s attention was drawn to the grounds for the review in relation to the licensing objective (prevention of crime and disorder) of the Licensing Act 2003 and also paragraphs 4 and 7 of the report – Policy Considerations and Advice and analysis on determination of an application for review.

The Panel heard from the Applicant.

The Applicant referred to the redacted Appendix D and the chronology of events contained therein.

The Panel was advised of police action in relation to request for the review.

The Panel asked questions of the Applicant who provided clarification when requested.

Decision:

The Panel, in reaching its decision, heard evidence from the Applicant, for the review in the absence of the Licensee. The Panel considered that, in light of the Applicant’s case and supporting evidence, the licensing objectives of the prevention of crime and disorder and the protection of children from harm had not been promoted. Further, the Panel considered that it was not satisfied that the Licensee could promote those licensing objectives if further conditions were imposed. The Panel resolved that the only way to promote the four licensing objectives  ...  view the full minutes text for item 976.

It is recommended that the panel exclude the press and public from the meeting during the decision-making process for the reasons set out in the report. 

RESOLVED: That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the exempt material relating to agenda item 7 because consideration of these matters in public would disclose information falling within Paragraphs 5 and 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 as specified in agenda item 6,and, in all the circumstances of the case, the Committee considered that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.