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 Fearn 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 MA One Stop International Food, 115C High Street, Gillingham, Kent ME7 1BS. All responsible authorities have been consulted in line with the Licensing Act 2003.

The application is before Members as representations have been received from the Police, Public Health and members of the public. To date no agreement has been reached.

Discussion

The Chairman advised that the process the hearing would follow was set out on page 4 of the agenda pack.

The Licensing Officer stated that an application for a new premises licence in respect of MA One Stop 115C High Street Gillingham, had been received, to include:

Supply of Alcohol (off the premises)

Monday to Sunday 09:00 to 21:00

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

The Licensing Officer advised that the premises fell within a Cumulative Impact Policy (CIP) area. Where a CIP was in place and relevant representations had been received, there was a rebuttal presumption of refusal in all but exceptional circumstances unless the applicant could demonstrate that the premises would not adversely affect the licensing objectives.

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.

The following documents were included in the agenda pack:

Appendix A pages 11 – 31 – Application for new premises licence

Appendix B page 33 - Location plan

Appendix C pages 35 – 50 – Copies of representations received

The Chairman invited the applicant to present the application for a new premises licence. Mr Ali said that he had been a taxi driver 13 years but that Covid-19 had made this unviable and he had needed to find alternative work. There were three other premises in close proximity to 115C High Street that were already selling alcohol, including one that was open 24 hours a day. Mr Ali stated that should his premises be unable to sell alcohol then potential customers would still be able to purchase it from these other premises. It was acknowledged that there had been objections from Kent Police and Public Health, but that other objections received were from persons connected to nearby businesses. Mr Ali also said that he had received threats and had being the victim of anti-social behaviour as a result of his application and that this had been reported to the Police.

In response to questions from Mrs Murray asking Mr Ali how he proposed that the sale of alcohol would not contribute to any of the issues outlined in the licensing policy and what he understood the issues in Gillingham High Street to be, Mr Ali said that there were other premises in close proximity to his. Should MA One Stop International be unable to sell alcohol, people would instead purchase alcohol from these premises. He further stated that the granting of a licence would only affect other existing businesses and that refusal of a licence would not help to address existing problems in the area. Mr Ali would take careful steps to ensure that his premises were not contributing to these problems and he aimed to make his premises an example to other premises of how  ...  view the full minutes text for item 427.

The applicant has applied for a new Premises Licence in respect of Rainham Boot Fair, South Bush Lane, Rainham, Kent, ME8 8PS. All responsible authorities have been consulted in line with the Licensing Act 2003.

The application is before Members as representations have been received from a members of the public, Hartlip Residents Action Group and Environmental Protection. To date no agreement has been reached. Agreement has been reached between the Applicant and the Police.

Discussion

The Chairman advised that the process the hearing would follow was set out on page 4 of the agenda pack.

The Licensing Officer stated that an application for a new premises licence in respect of Rainham Boot Fair, South Bush Lane, Rainham, Kent ME8 8PS, had been received, to include:

Plays, Films, Indoor Sporting Events, Boxing and Wrestling, Live Music,

Recorded Music, Performance of Dance, Anything of a similar description,

Late Night Refreshment and Sale of Alcohol.

Monday to Sunday 09:00 to 01:00.

The Applicant had subsequently amended his application by removing, Live

Music, Indoor Sporting Events, Boxing and Wrestling and Sale of Alcohol.

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 a related planning application was currently under consideration.

The matter had been put to the Licensing Hearing Panel as the Council had received representations from Members of the Public, Environmental Health and Hartlip Residents’ Action Group. Objections raised were relevant and related to all four of the licensing objectives.

The following documents were included in the agenda pack:

Appendix A pages 55 – 69 – Application for a new Premises Licence

Appendix B pages 71 – 82 – Amended application

Appendix C pages 83 – Location Plan

Appendix D pages 85 – 103 – Representations received in relation to the application

Appendix E pages 105 – Agreement with Kent Police

The Chairman invited the applicant to present the application for a new premises licence. Mr Jewell said that he had applied for a premises licence at Rainham Boot Fair to build upon successful events held at the site during 2020, including Rainham Boot Fair, open air theatre productions and a drive-in cinema, all of which provided social and leisure opportunities for the local community. Mr Jewell was looking to make such events a permanent fixture by gaining a premises licence. Another key reason for the application was due to the impact of Covid-19 and the impact that it had had on the hospitality industry as well as on mental health and wellbeing. The application would help support the hospitality sector and provide the public with new ways to enjoy the outdoors where there was less risk of Covid-19 transmission.

Mr Jewell said that the use of outdoor spaces had been strongly supported by the Government. This was evidenced by new laws introduced during 2020 which gave landowners greater freedom with regards to use of their land. The time limit for existing temporary use of land had doubled from 14 days to 28 days for holding a market or motor car or motorcycle racing and from 28 days to 56 days for any purpose. These changes made it easier to host markets, stalls, marquees, car boot sales and fairs without need for planning permission. The legislation had been due to expire  ...  view the full minutes text for item 428.

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 items 6 and 7, 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.