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 Chamber 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 Gabrielas Café Bar Restaurant, 48-50 Napier Road, Gillingham, Kent ME7 4HD.

All responsible authorities have been consulted in line with the Licensing Act.

Representations have been received from the Police, Public Health, a School, a Ward Councillor and members of the public together with a petition. An agreement has been reached with Environmental Protection.

Discussion:

The Chairman explained the process that the hearing would follow the “Guidelines for Licensing Hearing Panels”, as outlined on page 4 of the agenda.

The Licensing Officer stated that, in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003, the Council had received an application in respect of Gabriela’s Café Bar Restaurant (the Restaurant) to supply alcohol (on and off the premises) from 10:00 to 22:30 Monday to Sunday at the address specified as 48-52 Napier Road, Gillingham, Kent ME7 4HD.

The Licensing Officer confirmed that the application had been correctly advertised in the local press and notices had been displayed at the premises for the required timescales. The application had been referred to the Licensing Hearing Panel for determination because the Council had received relevant representations relating to the licensing objectives from the Police, Public Health, a School, a Ward Councillor and members of the public together with a petition. An agreement had been reached between the Applicant and Environmental Protection. She added that the Licensing Office was yet to hear from the Planning on its consent or otherwise to the application.

At the Chairman’s invitation, Manuel Rocha, the Applicant’s agent explained that the Gabriela’s Café Bar Restaurant was open about six months ago and was now applying to supply alcohol daily from 10:00 to 22:30 before closing at 23:00. The Restaurant had currently employed 6 to 7 staff and planned to increase the strength to 15 -16 under a full-swing operation. He then outlined the steps intended to be taken to promote the four licensing objectives, as well as the conditions agreed with Environmental Protection.

Mr Rocha further advised that in his email to the Police sent around last Christmas, the Applicant, John Panayi, had accepted the 13 conditions proposed by the Police except closing the outdoor seating area by 19:00 which would be done by 21:00 instead, as agreed with Environmental Protection. Mr Rocha stressed that the Applicant would make every effort to respect the licence conditions and was prepared to make all necessary improvements to maintain a good environment for the neighbourhood with a view to sustaining the business which could hardly survive without selling alcohol.

The Chairman invited the objectors to ask the applicant and his agent questions.

PC Hunt asked about the number and location of smoking area(s). Mr Panayi advised that in addition to the one at the front of the shop, they intended to put another smoking area at the back to keep the noise away from the properties at the front of the shop.  On the rationale of opening the outdoor seating area to the front of building until 21:00 having regard to the concerns of nuisance and disturbance expressed by various parties in their representations, Mr Panayi and Mr Rocha said that smoking was a human right, and there was an agreement with Environmental Protection for the outside seating area to open until 21:00, but they had no problem to change it to 19:00, as proposed by the Police.

Noting that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 563.

The applicant has applied for a new Premises Licence in respect of Taste of Europe Supermarket, 48-50 Napier Road, Gillingham, Kent ME7 4HD.

All responsible authorities have been consulted in line with the Licensing Act.

Representations have been received from a Ward Councillor and members of the public together with a petition. An agreement has been reached with the Police.

Discussion:

The Chairman explained that same as the previous hearing, the hearing would follow the process as outlined on page 4 of the agenda, the “Guidelines for Licensing Hearing Panels”.

The Licensing Officer stated that, in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003, the Council had received an application in respect of Taste of Europe Supermarket to supply alcohol (off the premises) from 10:00 to 22:00 Monday to Sunday at the address specified as 48-52 Napier Road, Gillingham, Kent ME7 4HD.

The Licensing Officer confirmed that the application had been correctly advertised in the local press and notices had been displayed at the premises for the required timescales. The application had been referred to the Licensing Hearing Panel for determination because the Council had received relevant representations relating to all four licensing objectives from a Ward Councillor and members of the public together with a petition while the Applicant had reached an agreement with the Police with details set out on pages 165 to 166 of the agenda. Again, the Licensing Office was yet to hear from the Planning on its consent or otherwise to the application.

At the Chairman’s invitation, Manuel Rocha, the Applicant’s agent said that alcohol was just a complement to and constituting about 10 to 15 % of the products sold at the Mini-market. He also outlined the steps intended to be taken to promote the four licensing objectives, as outlined in the application.

In reply to MacGregor’s enquiry, Rocha confirmed that the Mini-market would not be selling knives and aerosols.

Addressing Clare Osborn’s concern, Mr Rocha pointed out that anyone could buy alcohol from any premises, for example from the Mini-market or the convenience shop round the corner usually subject to pricing, to consume at the Gabriela Café Bar Restaurant. In reply to Councillor Mahil, Mr Rocha said that the Applicant had no intention to promote the sale of alcohol at the Mini-market for consumption at the Restaurant. The Applicant, John Panayi, confirmed that the Mini-market was currently selling food only. 

Then, the Chairman invited the objectors to speak about their representations against the application.

Councillor Johnson expressed objection to the application for similar reasons expressed at the previous hearing.  The nature of this area being mainly residential made it unsuitable for off-licence sales. Unlike the off-licence shops further up the Napier Road forming a commercial mix, the sale of alcohol particularly during the evenings at the premises could make it a focus for anti-social behaviour and bring about problems of noise, parking etc, which would impact the family lives of nearby residents and wellbeing of school children passing. He was also concerned about the alcohol sold at the Mini-market under the off-licence, if granted would be consumed at the Restaurant. As such, Councillor Johnson reiterated his view about the inappropriate location of the premises for the off-licence.

Clare Osborn expressed concern about the consumption of alcohol at the Restaurant bought from the Mini-market. Customers might buy alcohol after they had left the Restaurant  ...  view the full minutes text for item 564.

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 7because 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.