Agenda and minutes

The Panel is requested to elect a Chairperson for the hearing in line with rules agreed by the Licensing and Safety Committee. 

Councillor McDonald was elected as Chairperson for this meeting.

There were none.

To agree that the Chairperson, after consultation with the other members of the Panel, sign the record of this meeting outside the meeting. 

It was agreed that the Chairperson, after consultation with the other members of the Panel, would sign the record of this meeting outside the meeting. 

This meeting is being held urgently in accordance with Section 100B(3) of the Local Government Act 1972, as the Licensing Act 2003 requires objections to a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) to be considered within 7 working days of the day after the end of the period after the objections can be made.

The Chairperson is asked to agree that the business specified on this agenda should be considered at this meeting as a matter of urgency as permitted under section 100B of the Local Government Act 1972 to enable the objections to the TEN to be considered within the timescales set out above.

This meeting was held urgently in accordance with Section 100B(3) of the Local Government Act 1972, as the Licensing Act 2003 requires objections to a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) to be considered within 7 working days of the day after the end of the period after the objections can be made.  

The Chairperson agreed that the business specified on this agenda should be considered at this meeting as a matter of urgency as permitted under section 100B of the Local Government Act 1972 to enable the objections to the TEN to be considered within the timescales set out above.

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 licensee for Super Pizza, 6 Batchelor Street, Chatham, Kent ME4 4BJ has served a Temporary Event Notice on Medway Council, Environmental Health and the Police in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003.

Event Details:  To extend the opening hours for Late Night Refreshment for the period 27^th December 2023 to 2 January 2024. 

Objections have been received from Kent Police.

Discussion:

The Licensing Manager informed the Panel that the licensee for Super Pizza had served a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) on Medway Council, Environmental Health, and the Police in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003 to extend the opening hours for late night refreshment from 01:00 hours on 27 December 2023 until 05:00 hours on 2 January 2024.

The current hours are:

23:00 hours to 01:00 hours Sunday to Thursday

23:00 hours to 02:00 hours Friday and Saturday

On 7 December 2023, Kent Police served a notice of objection to the TEN on the licensee and Licensing as they believed it would undermine the prevention of crime and disorder and the prevention of public nuisance.

The Licensing Manager informed the Panel that the options available to them would be to:

• Take no action and permit the event in the manner described in the Temporary Event Notice.

• Issue a counter notice (i.e., refuse the event) under s 105(2)(b) if the hearing panel considers it appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives to do so.

• Impose one or more of the existing premises licence conditions on the Temporary Event Notice if the hearing panel consider it appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives to do so and if the conditions would not be inconsistent with the carrying out of the licensable activities under the Temporary Event Notice.

The Chairperson invited the applicant and his representative to present the application. Mr Khan informed the Panel that the reasons for rejecting the application were not valid as there had not been any disturbances at the premises in the past and that the additional hours applied for had not exceeded the limit of 7 days and 168 hours for temporary events. Mr Khan stated that he had letters of support from local businesses and residents but Kent Police were the only party to object. However, no letters of support were produced, and no witnesses attended in support.

For clarity the Licensing Manager explained that a temporary event has a start time and date and an end time and date from which the maximum number of days and hours were calculated and if a premises closed during this time, it would still be counted towards the maximum number of hours.

The Chairperson asked the objectors if they had questions for the applicant.

In response to questions about Mr Khan’s licence and opening hours, Mr Khan confirmed that he had held a licence for 8 years, had never had any incidents during that time and that this was the first time he had applied for later opening for the Christmas period. Mr Khan was asked if he was present at a Licensing Hearing Panel in April when he requested later opening hours and whether he was aware of the concerns raised by Kent Police then and he confirmed that he had been present and was aware of the concerns raised. Mr Khan informed the Panel that he had submitted an appeal to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 474.

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.