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 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 Spar Gillingham, 124 High Street, Gillingham, Kent ME7 1AU.

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

Representations have been received from Kent Police and Public Health. 

The application was withdrawn by the applicant.

In accordance with Section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003, the Council has received an application from Kent Police, as a responsible authority, for a review of the existing premises licence in respect of Casino Rooms, Blue Boar Lane, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1PD.

All responsible authorities have been consulted in line with the Licensing Act 2003.

Representations regarding the review application have also been received from members of the public both in support and against the review application.

Discussion:

The Chairman asked the parties to introduce themselves and then reminded all present of the process that would be followed as outlined in the main agenda.

Mr Charalambides requested that the press and public not be excluded from any part of the hearing. He said that there was broad agreement between the premises and the police regarding the three additional conditions that had been requested and there was no need to disclose personal information during the hearing. PC Hunt responded to the request and stated that the Police wished to be able to discuss the specific incidents.

After a short adjournment, the Panel agreed to proceed on this basis as the evidence was not in dispute and it was considered that the parties could refer to general issues/incidents without the need to discuss the information in the confidential papers. The Panel noted that it would keep the matter under review throughout the hearing.

The Senior Licensing Officer outlined the matter before the Panel, with reference to the documents contained within the main agenda pack prepared for the original hearing date of 10 May 2022 and the supplementary agenda packs nos 1, 2 and 3. 

PC Hunt presented the application for a review of the premises licence on behalf of Kent Police and referred to a previous review hearing in July 2016. He said that at that hearing the police had requested the introduction of an electronic identification scanning system as a condition of entry to the premises, but this had not been granted. The police were again requesting this as a condition of the licence as they considered that it would make the Casino Rooms safer and would better help promote the licensing objectives.

PC Hunt said that Kent Police were appreciative of the many steps the premises took to promote the licensing objectives and were not seeking the revocation of the premises licence. However, they had identified concerns with how the premises were operated and were seeking additional conditions on the licence to address these and promote the licensing objectives. These were set out in the application for review and requested that all Security Industry Authority (SIA) door supervisors wore body worn video cameras in record mode for the duration of their shift; the use of an electronic identification scanning system as a condition of entry; and for two SIA door supervisors to be deployed to the front of the premises including Blue Boar Lane and Blue Boar Lane car park 30 minute prior to closing until one hour after the premises closed, or until a majority of customers had dispersed.    

PC Hunt advised the Panel that several meetings between Kent Police and the Designated Premises Supervisor had taken place between October 2021 and February 2022 to try to agree a stepped approach, but it had been clear that full agreement could not be reached on the proposed additional conditions.

PC Hunt detailed a number of incidents dating back to October 2021 which had occurred at the premises  ...  view the full minutes text for item 876.

This report recommends that the Panel exclude the press and public during part of the meeting, as required.

Decision:

The press and public were excluded from the meeting during the Panel’s deliberations and decision making in respect of agenda item 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.