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 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.

The applicant has applied for a new Premises Licence in respect of Medway Food Centre, 43-45 Luton High Street, Chatham, ME5 7LP. All responsible authorities have been consulted in line with the Licensing Act.

Representations have been received from members of the public, the Police, Public Health, a local charity Big Local and Ward Councillors, together with a petition. No agreements have been reached.

Discussion:

The Chairman asked the Licensing Officer to outline the matter before the Panel. The Licensing Officer stated that an application for a new premises licence had been received in respect of the Medway Food Centre, 43-45 Luton High Street, Chatham, ME5 7LP.

The application was for the supply of alcohol (off the premises) from Monday to Sunday 09:00 – 20:00. The application had been correctly advertised in the local press and notices displayed at the premises for the required period.

This matter had been put to the Licensing Hearing Panel because the Council had received representations from the Police, Public Health, Ward Councillors, a local charity, members of the public, together with a petition. No agreement had been reached.

The following documents were included in the main agenda pack: -

• Appendix A - pages 11 to 26, The application.
• Appendix B – page 27, Location Plan
• Appendix C - pages 29 to 49, Representations

Supplementary agenda no 1 included a witness statement and photographs submitted by the Police to support their representation.

Supplementary agenda no 2 included additional information submitted by the applicant to support the application.

The Licensing Officer stated that the premises fell within a Cumulative Impact Policy (CIP) area and that, where there are relevant representations, there was a rebuttable presumption of refusal by the Authority in all but exceptional circumstances, unless the applicant could demonstrate the premises would not adversely affect the licensing objectives.

The Chairman invited the applicant’s representative to present the application for a premises licence. Mr Hutchins referred to the CIP and questioned whether the data within it could still be relied upon as it was mostly four years old and the CIP had not yet been reviewed.

Mr Hutchins advised that the applicant owned the freehold to the premises which was a one stop shop for groceries.  He referred to the petition in support of the application which had attracted 176 signatures in 5 days and a further 35 over the last weekend. He considered that the application went over and above the required standard and that the premises would be a benchmark of a gold standard for other licenced premises to follow. Referring to concerns that the premises would attract anti-social behaviour, he said that the supply of alcohol would only be between the hours of 9.00am and 8.00pm which was less than other premises in the area. Only 5% of the shelving would be used to display alcohol which would be ancillary to general grocery sales and the sale of alcohol would not be promoted.

Referring to the list of possible conditions contained within the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy, Mr Hutchins listed those that the applicant would be willing to accept. These were CD6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 23, 34, 40, 51, PN1, 22, 38, 40, 45, CH4, 9, 10, 11, CD41 and 42. In addition, the applicant would be willing to consider any other conditions that the Panel might be mindful to impose.

In response to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 107.

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.