Agenda and minutes

Councillor Mrs Chambers was elected as Chairman for the meeting. 

There were none. 

It was agreed that the Chairman, after consultation with the other members of the Panel, would sign the record of this meeting outside the meeting. 

There were none. 

Disclosable pecuniary interests

There were none.

Other interests

There were none.

In accordance with the Licensing Act 2003, the Council has received an application for a new premises licence in respect of Euro Foods, 131 High Street, Chatham. The matter has been referred to the Licensing Hearing Panel because representations have been received from Kent Police and Public Health.

The Chairman asked those present to introduce themselves and explained the process that the hearing would follow as outlined in the agenda.

The Principal Licensing and Enforcement Officer stated that, in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003, the Council had received an application for a new premises licence for Euro Foods, 131 High Street, Chatham, Kent ME4 4DH. The application was for the supply of alcohol off the premises.  

All responsible authorities had been consulted in line with the Licensing Act 2003 and the application had been referred to the Licensing Hearing Panel for consideration and determination because representation had been received from Kent Police and Public Health in relation to all four of the licensing objectives.  No further representations had been received from members of the public or other responsible authorities.

The following documents were included in the agenda report for the Panel’s consideration:

Appendix A – Pages 9 to 19:  Copy of the application as submitted

Appendix B – Pages 21: A copy of the floor plan

Appendix C – Page 23: A copy of a map showing the location of the premises

Appendix D – Page 25 to 39: A copy of representations received from Kent Police and Public Health

The applicant had subsequently submitted additional information which was provided to Panel members and the objector in a supplementary agenda (no. 4).

The Chairman invited the applicant to present the application for a premises licence.  The applicant highlighted to Members that he was proposing measures to promote the four Licensing Objectives, as set out in the application.  He considered the main issue being raised by objectors to be in relation to street drinkers and he felt there was an inability of authorities (Police and the Local Authority) to address this problem.  He considered the main strategy of authorities was to ban shops from selling alcohol.  He also explained that he had been abused, verbally and physically, when promoting the licensing objectives under his previous premises licence when refusing the sale of alcohol to intoxicated customers.

In response to a question from a Kent Police representative about how the applicant intended to stop selling alcohol to street drinkers, the applicant confirmed that he would refuse to sell alcohol to street drinkers.  He explained that he would implement a policy with staff that as soon as a street drinker was identified they would be refused the sale of alcohol and that a refusals register would be maintained.

In response to a question from the Public Health representative about the responsibility of Euro Foods in relation to the gathering of street drinkers outside the store, the applicant stated that although the sale of alcohol was a factor, street drinkers congregated along Chatham High Street anyway and in particular outside Euro Foods because of the benches that were outside the store.  He stated that this still happened now even though he was not selling alcohol.

In response to a further question from the Public Health representative, the applicant confirmed that since  ...  view the full minutes text for item 865.

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 City Minimart, 3 Cazeneuve Street, Rochester.

The Chairman asked those present to introduce themselves and explained the process that the hearing would follow as outlined in the agenda.

The Principal Licensing and Enforcement Officer stated that, in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003, the Council had received an application from Kent Police, as a responsible authority, for a review of the existing premises licence in respect of City Minimart, 3 Cazeneuve Street, Rochester, Kent ME1 1XU.

All responsible authorities had been consulted and representations supporting the review had been received from Public Health and the local Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator.  No further representations supporting the review had been received from members of the public or other responsible authorities.  Representations objecting to the application for review had been received from members of the public.  

The following documents were included in the agenda report for the Panel’s consideration:

·         Appendix A – Pages 47 to 50: Copy of current premises licence

·         Appendix B – Page 51: Plan showing the location of the premises

·         Appendix C – Page 53 to 59: Copy of the Review Application

·         Appendix D – Pages 61 to 86: Copies of representations

In addition to the above there were three Supplementary Agendas, which set out the following information:

·         Supplementary Agenda 1: Additional information from Kent Police in support of their application for review and an additional representation from a member of the public opposing the application for review.

·         Supplementary Agenda 2: Additional information from Licensing Matters, representing the Licence Holder

·         Supplementary Agenda 3: Additional information from the Ward Councillor, supporting the application for review of the existing premises licence.

The Chairman invited the representative from Kent Police to present the application for a review of the premises licence.  She explained that the premises had failed two test purchases conducted by Trading Standards in 2016, where on both occasions alcohol was sold to a 14 year old.  Trading Standards had submitted a review on this basis but had withdrawn the review after agreeing some actions with the Licence Holder.  The representative from Kent Police also explained that the Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) in the area had reported problems relating to street drinkers and the intimidation experienced by local residents and businesses.  The PCSO had also been made aware of claims that the store was selling alcohol outside of its licensable hours.  She then reported on two visits to the premises in September 2016.  On the first occasion, the staff member explained he was working alone in the shop and that the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) and the Premises Licence Holder were out of the country.  The staff member confirmed he did not have a Personal Licence and eventually another male arrived at the shop who did hold a Personal Licence but denied having any responsibility for the store. 

The representative from Kent Police added that on the second visit they met with the Licence Holder and raised concerns with him in relation to the street drinkers issue and ways in which the store could prevent selling to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 866.

The press and public were excluded from the meeting for the decision making process during items 6 and 7 because consideration of this matter in public would disclose information falling within Paragraph 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 as specified in agenda item 8, and, in all the circumstances of the cases, the Panel considered that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.