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 application for the Best Food Centre, 15-19 New Road, Chatham following the submission of representations, received during the consultation period. 

Discussion:

The Chairperson explained the process that the hearing would follow and attendees introduced themselves.

Mr Dadds, the agent for the applicant, queried whether the Panel had discussed previous applications with Members from previous hearings. Members confirmed that this was a new hearing with Panel Members that had not been on the Panel for previous hearings and they had not discussed previous applications or hearings with Members.

Mr Dadds referred to the hearing as reconvened but was informed by the Panel and the Legal advisor that this was a new hearing and not reconvened. Mr Dadds informed the Panel that he had not received the supplementary agenda and explained that whilst representations can be amplified at the hearing, new information cannot be submitted.

The Panel were informed by Mr Dadds that it was unfair to serve documents so late before the hearing, it was not right and proper and asked for the supplementary agenda to be excluded.

The Legal advisor to the Panel informed Mr Dadds that the supplementary agenda was sent to him by email on 16 July 2026 and he responded to inform them that a different email address had been used for previous correspondence and he had not had time to consider it.

The Panel acknowledged that the supplementary agenda had been served in the correct timelines however they would disregard it as Mr Dadds had not had time to consider it.

The Licensing Officer informed the Panel that the applicant had applied for a New Premises Application at Best Food Centre, 15 – 19 New Road,

Chatham, ME4 4QJ.  The application was for the sale by retail of alcohol (off sales) from 10:00 to 22:00. All responsible authorities had been consulted in line with the Licensing Act 2003 and representatives had been received from, a member of the public, Public Health and Kent Police.

The Chairperson then invited the applicantto speak in support of their application.

The Panel were informed that the premises was a convenience store that wanted to sell alcohol during modest times and nearby premises were open for longer and the nearby petrol station was open 24 hours. Mr Dadds explained that the representations from Kent Police and Public Health relied on the location of the premises in a cumulative impact area, were very general in nature and did not include specific data.

Mr Dadds referred to the cumulative impact policy as a statement of intent which does not reverse the burden so the applicant does not have to provide evidence to rebut the presumption that licences will not be granted in cumulative impact areas. He explained that if an application was refused then the Panel needed to show that granting the licence would undermine one or more of the licensing objectives.

The Panel’s attention was drawn to the robust conditions that had been applied to the application including a cap of 6% on the strength of alcohol, no sale of single cans, staff training, membership of the Medway Safer Partnership for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 155.

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 7 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.