Agenda and draft 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.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Fearn.

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.

The applicant has applied for a variation of the Premises Licence in respect of The Bounty Public House, Bligh Way, Strood, Kent, ME2 2XH. All responsible authorities have been consulted in line with the Licensing Act.

The application is before Members as representations have been received from the Police. To date no agreement has been reached.

The Chairman asked those present to confirm that they had the agenda pack for this virtual meeting which set out the process that the hearing would follow.

The Licensing Officer stated that an application to vary a licence in respect of the Bounty Public House, Bligh Way, Strood, Rochester, Kent, ME2 2XH had been received, the variation to include:-

The exhibition of films (indoors)

Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 23:00 and Sunday 12:00 to 22:00

Supply of Alcohol (on and off the premises)

Thursday to Saturday 10:00 to 01:00 and Sunday 12:00 to 23:00

New Year’s Eve 07:00 to New Year’s Day 23:00

Christmas Eve 10:00 to 02:00

Christmas Day 11:00 to 22:30

Boxing Day, St Patricks Day, Easter, May, Spring and Late Summer Bank Holidays Friday to Monday inclusive plus one hour on standard trading time.

Removal of condition 16 as there was now no children’s play area.

The application had been correctly advertised in the local press and notices displayed at the premises for the required timescale.

The Licensing Officer confirmed that, in accordance with section 9.14 of the Amended Guidance to the Licensing Act, discussions with Planning Services had confirmed that the premises had no planning history. They had been unable to confirm class or hours.

This matter had been put to the Licensing Hearing Panel because the Council had received representations from the Police. No agreement had been reached.

The following documents were included in the agenda pack: -

• Appendix A - pages 11 to 16, Premises Licence.
• Appendix B - pages 17 to 37, Original Application
• Appendix C - pages 39, Location Plan
• Appendix D - pages 40 to 45, Representations

The Chairman invited the applicant to present the application for a variation to the premises licence. Mr Sheard said that the application requested the removal of a condition that required a designated play area to be alarmed because the play area no longer existed. He considered the current premises licence to be antiquated in that it did not allow the premises to sell alcohol after 10.30pm on public holidays such as Good Friday and New Year’s Eve.

He expressed the view that eight of the incidents referred to in the representations submitted by the Police had nothing to do with the premises which was located within an economically and socially difficult area of Strood. Mr Sheard stated that there had been considerable investment in the premises in the past two years such as the installation of lockable gates to the car park and the removal of a smoking shelter to the front of the premises.

Referring to the Police’s attendance at the premises on 22 November 2019 when drugs had been found at the premises, Mr Sheard said that no drugs had been found during previous visits. The DPS had spoken to several Police Officers who had stated that the premises were by no means the worst in the area. He was therefore seeking the extended hours at specific times to bring them  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

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.