Agenda and minutes

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

Councillor Browne was elected Chairperson for this meeting.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Peake.

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

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

The Chairperson 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. 

Members are invited to disclose any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Significant Interests in accordance with the Member Code of Conduct. Guidance on this is set out in agenda item 5.

Disclosable pecuniary interests

There were none.

Other significant interests (OSIs)

There were none.

Other interests

There were none.

To consider a new Premises Licence application for Budgens,1 Block C, Pioneer Wharf, Chatham ME4 4HA following the submission of representations, received during the consultation period.

Discussion:

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

The Licensing Officer informed the Panel that the applicant had applied for a new Premises Licence for Budgens, 1 Block C, Pioneer Wharf, Chatham

ME4 4HA.  All responsible authorities had been consulted in line with the Licensing Act 2003 and representations had been received from the Public Health team, Kent Police and two members of the public.

The application was for:

Sale by Retail of Alcohol, Off Sales – Daily 09:00 to 23:00

The Chairperson invited the applicants and their agents to speak in support of their application.

Applicants representations

Nick Semper informed the Panel that he had received an email from Emily Lane-Blackwell, the Licensing Manager conceding that there was no rebuttable presumption of refusal and no requirement to show exceptional circumstances under the law or in any of the relevant guidance with regards to the granting of licences in a Cumulative Impact Area (CIA).

The Panel were informed that the applicants had 20 years’ experience of operating licensed premises, the proposed Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) had held a personal licence since 2006 and Budgens had over 30 years’ experience and had never come to the attention of the Responsible Authorities in any of their stores.

The Applicants explained that the proposed new store was part of a new development in Chatham town centre The site would include 6 retail units and will serve the residents of 292 new homes and visitors.

The Panel were informed that the store would include the use of staff entry and exit points, extensive CCTV coverage and an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system called Facewatch to allow staff to be easily alerted to the presence of any banned customers and intervene. The store would also sign up to the Safer Medway Partnership and use of their radio system.

The Panels attention was drawn to the merits of the application by a professionally run and properly resourced operation under an operating schedule which is fit for purpose and therefore the licensing objectives are unlikely to be undermined.

The challenges in the area were acknowledged but the store would not attract street drinkers as they would not be served. It was explained that whilst you could restrict sales and have measures in place to address concerns the store could not seek to manage the behaviour of individuals in the wider area.

With regards to alcohol related crime, data had been requested from Kent Police under a Freedom of Information request, but this had not been provided. The crime maps in the supplementary evidence provided by the Police showed 12 alcohol related crimes in 7 months and 33 alcohol related anti-social behaviour (ASB) incidents.

The Panel were informed that the DPS was aware of issues in the local area and the relevance of the CIA was not being downplayed but the applicants and their representatives disagreed with what a CIA empowered authorities to do.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 424.

To consider a new Premises Licence application for AMT Coffee Shop, Gillingham Railway Station, Railway Street Gillingham Kent ME7 1XE, following the submission of representations, received during the consultation period.

Due to a bereavement the Applicants were unable to attend, and the Panel agreed to defer the hearing to 16 December 2025.

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. 

Decision:

The press and public were excluded from the meeting during the Panel’s deliberations and decision making in respect of agenda item 6 because consideration of this matter in public would disclosure information falling within paragraph  5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, as specified in agenda item 8 (Exclusion of the Press and Public) and, in all the circumstances of the case, the Panel considered that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.