Agenda and minutes

Licensing Hearing Panel - Wednesday, 16 September 2015 9.30am

Venue: Meeting Room 7 - Level 3, Gun Wharf, Dock Road, Chatham ME4 4TR. View directions

Contact: Rosie Gunstone, Democratic Services Officer/Stephen Platt, Democratic Services Officer 

Items
No. Item

327.

Election of the Chairman

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

Minutes:

The Panel agreed to appoint Councillor Carr as Chairman.

328.

Record of 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. 

Minutes:

The Panel agreed that the Chairman, after consultation with the other members of the Panel, sign the record of the meeting outside the meeting.  

329.

To receive apologies for absence

Minutes:

There were none. 

330.

Urgent matters by reason of special circumstances

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. 

Minutes:

There were none. 

331.

Declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests and other interests

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. 

Minutes:

Disclosable pecuniary interests

 

There were none.

 

Other interests

 

There were none.

332.

Application for a review of a Premises Licence - Command House, Dock Road, Chatham, Kent pdf icon PDF 116 KB

In accordance with Section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003, the Council has received an application from Kent Police, as a responsible authority, for a review of the existing premises licence in respect of the Command House, Dock Road, Chatham, Kent ME4 4TX.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Discussion:

 

The Panel considered an application for a review of a premises licence by Kent Police, in respect of The Command House, Dock Road, Chatham.

 

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 Command House, Dock Road, 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) was 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 was attached at Appendix A on pages 9 to 16 of the main agenda. 

 

A copy of a plan showing the location of the premises was at Appendix B on page 17.

 

A copy of the review application was at Appendix C on pages 19 to 26 with copies of representations received at Appendix D on pages 27 to 32.

 

Supplementary Agendas 1 and 2 also included supplementary information provided by the solicitor on behalf of the Command House and from the Police. 

 

The Panel’s attention was drawn to the grounds for the review in relation to the licensing objective (prevention of crime and disorder and public safety) of the Licensing Act 2003 and also paragraphs 3 and 6 of the committee report –Advice and analysis on determination of an application for review and recommendation.

 

The representatives from Kent Police spoke in support of their application for a review and referred to the fact that while a good relationship had been initially established with the DPS there had been a marked deterioration in the past few months. 

 

Reference was made to a specific event on 29 June 2015 where there was a breach of the premises licence as the venue remained open beyond the agreed opening hours.  Kent Police also witnessed a large number of highly intoxicated people, many of whom where lone females who were extremely vulnerable.  The view of Kent Police was that the irresponsible drinks promotion of £1 drinks all night long offered by the venue would have contributed to this.  There had also been incidents where other events had been advertised showing them to finish later than the licensed hours.

 

A representative from Medway’s Public Health team put forward the concerns of the Director of Public Health as set out in the agenda. 

 

The Panel and Licence Holder and his solicitor put questions relating to the review application.

 

The Licence Holder and his solicitor then put forward their response to the review application.  They explained that the DPS had been covering the Command House plus a second club in Maidstone leaving a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 332.

333.

Exclusion of the press and public

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. 

Minutes:

The Panel resolved that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the decision making process for the reasons set out in the report.