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 MS8 Limited, Dockhead Road, Chatham Maritime Kent, ME4 3ED. All responsible authorities have been consulted in line with the Licensing Act.

Representations have been received from the Police and from members of the public. Agreement has been reached with Environmental Health.

Discussion

The Chairman advised that the process the hearing would follow was set out on page 3 of the agenda pack.

The Licensing Officer stated that an application for a new premises licence in respect of MS8 Limited, Dockhead Road, Chatham Maritime Kent, ME4 3ED had been received to include:

Plays Outdoors Monday to Sunday 09:00 – 22:00

Films Outdoors Monday to Sunday 09:00 – 22:00

Boxing or wrestling entertainments Outdoors Monday to Sunday 09:00 – 22:00

Live music Outdoors Monday to Sunday 09:00 – 22:00

Recorded music Outdoors Monday to Sunday 09:00 – 22:00

Performance of dance Outdoors Monday to Sunday 09:00 – 22:00

Supply of alcohol Indoors and outdoors Monday to Sunday 09:00 – 22:00

Agreement had been reached with Environmental Health by adding conditions to the operating schedule as set out at Appendix D to the report.

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 class of use for the site was D2 leisure and the hours were 8:30 – 23:00 Monday to Sunday, including public holidays. A further planning application was pending.

The matter had been put to the Licensing Hearing Panel as the Council had received relevant representations from the Police and from members of the public relating to all four of the licensing objectives:

·       The prevention of crime and disorder

·       Public safety

·       The prevention of public nuisance

·       The protection of children from harm 

The following documents were included in the agenda pack:

Appendix A pages 11 – 24 – Application for new premises licence

Appendix B page 25 - Location plan

Appendix C pages 27 – 46 – Copies of representations received

Appendix D page 47 – Agreement with Environmental Health

The Chairman invited the applicant to present the application for a new premises licence. Mr Sutton said he had been working with the Licensing Department ahead of submitting his application. Planning permission had previously been granted for a climbing centre at the site. This work had been progressing but had been halted by Covid-19 in March 2020. It had been hoped that a drive-in film or pantomime could be hosted at the site ahead of Christmas 2020 but it had not been possible to make the required arrangements in time.

It would not now be possible for the site to be developed until 2022 and the aim therefore was to use it for events in the meantime. These events had not yet been planned in detail and therefore it had not been possible to provide specifics in the licensing application. Agreement had been reached with Environmental Health and a conversation had been had with Kent Police. Subject to the outcome of the Panel, Mr Sutton said he would be open to conditions being added to the licence granted. He confirmed that he was not looking  ...  view the full minutes text for item 633.

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 disclose 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.