Agenda and draft 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 Chairperson for this meeting.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Sands as the fourth Member and Councillor Brake was on standby if needed.

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. 

The Chairperson will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he/she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report. 

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.

To consider a full variation application for the Premises Licence at Kings Head Hotel, 58 High Street, Rochester following the submission of representations, received during the consultation period.

Discussion:

The Chairperson asked those present to introduce themselves.

The Licensing Officer informed the Panel that the applicant had applied for a full variation of the Premises Licence at Kings Head Hotel, 58 High Street, Rochester. All responsible authorities had been consulted in line with the Licensing Act 2003, and a representation had been received from a member of the public.

The application was to add an additional hour to the closing time for the current licensable activities (sale by retail of alcohol, live music, recorded music, dancing, films and indoor sporting events and late night refreshment).

The Chairperson invited the applicant to speak in support of their application.

The applicant’s agent explained that the application was to extend the existing hours by 1 hour. The Panel were informed that the applicant needed to make the application as at present the premises was only open on Fridays and Saturdays due to a lack of trade and they needed to encourage more customers to visit and hopefully be able to open in the week.

The agent informed the Panel that the licensed premises next door closed at 12.30am which caused their customers to wait outside the Kings Head Hotel until it closed at 01:00am and impacted on the Kings Head Hotel and caused congestion.

The Panel were informed that the hours were being applied for until 02:00am to allow the premises to close slowly and to resolve the issue with congestion outside the premises. The agent explained that the premises had been staying open until 02:00am in Autum 2025 under Temporary Event Notices and there had not been any complaints, objections or issues caused by the later opening hours. The applicant explained that they attended monthly meetings with Kent Police and there had not been any objections to the application from the police or fire service.

As the objector, Mr Webb then questioned the applicant.

In response to a query about how the business will operate, the agent explained that the extension would provide an extra hour of trade and solve the problem with the congestion outside the premises. The agent explained that there had not been any objections from the police and that the extra hour had not caused any problems when it had been in place during the autumn.

Mr Webb queried the admissions policy for the premises and was informed that the door staff were experienced and were strict as to who was allowed entry with a dress code in place in the evenings. The Panel were informed that the staff would not serve anyone that was intoxicated and security staff had a good view of the whole venue to enable them to prevent any issues before they arose.

In response to a query about linking up with other venues in the High Street the Panel were informed that there were monthly meetings and radios so that the premises would communicate with other venues.

Mr Webb asked for further information regarding a media report about a violent unprovoked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 624.

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.