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. 

Councillor Mrs Diane Chambers was elected Chairman for this meeting. 

There were none. 

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

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. 

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.

An application has been received from Kent Police for an Expedited Review of the premises licence at Cricketers, 88 High Street, Rainham, Kent, ME8 7JH, as the premises have been associated with serious crime and disorder. Interim steps were agreed at a hearing held on 25 July 2018, pending the full review hearing, which is the matter before the Panel.

Discussion:

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 said that, in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003, the Council had received an application for an Expedited Review from Kent Police, in relation to the premises licence at the Cricketers, 88 High Street, Rainham, as the premises had been associated with serious crime and disorder. She advised that the Act required expedited premises licence review applications to be considered within 48 hours and a hearing was held on 25 July 2018 to consider what interim steps were required, pending a full hearing of the issues within 28 days of the date that the application was served.  In light of the evidence presented at the hearing on 25 July, the Panel had agreed to impose interim steps pending the full review hearing which was now the matter before the Panel.

The application had been correctly advertised on the Council’s website, in all Council contact points and by notices being displayed on the premises for the required period. Additional submissions had been received from Kent Police and TLT Solicitors, on behalf of the premises license holder and these had been circulated by way of a supplementary agenda.

Before presenting the application for a review of the premises licence on behalf of Kent Police, PC Chris Hill advised that he had met with Greene King’s legal team and had agreed a number of additional or amended conditions for the Panel’s consideration. These were circulated to Panel members and, with the agreement of the Chairman, Piers Warne, solicitor to the premises licence holder, outlined the proposed conditions, which were as follows:

New conditions

1.       With the exception of 10 pre-booked events per annum, booked not less than 14 days in advance, there shall be no Regulated Entertainment in the form of DJs at the premises.

2.       With the exception of 10 pre-booked events per annum, booked not less than 14 days in advance, there will be no dedicated dancefloor. For the avoidance of doubt, tables and chairs will not be moved or removed from the ordinary layout of the premises to create a dancefloor in line with this condition.

3.       Where a pre-booked event ('the event') involving regulated entertainment is to be held at the premises, the premises licence holder shall complete a written risk assessment at least 48 hours prior to the commencement of the event. A copy of the written risk assessment is to be kept at the premises for inspection by the Police Licensing Team or Responsible Authority officer. If any requirement for additional staffing or door staff (above any requirement already stipulated in these conditions) is identified by the risk assessment, such measures will be implemented.

4.       When pre-booked events involving regulated entertainment are taking place on either a Friday or Saturday evening and the premises is to remain open for licensable activities after 23:00 hours there shall be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 285.

It is recommended that the panel exclude the press and public from parts of the meeting if necessary and also 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 item6 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.