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.

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. 

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 new Premises Licence application for 23 Railway Street, Chatham following the submission of representations, received during the consultation period.

The Panel were informed at short notice that the Applicant was not able to attend due to the ill health of a family member.

The Panel agreed to adjourn the consideration of the new Premises Licence application for Tobis Foods Ltd, 23 Railway Street, Chatham, Kent ME4 4HU until 31 October 2024 at 9.30am.

To consider a new Premises Licence application for 382-386 High Street, Rochester following the submission of representations, received during the consultation period.

Discussion:

The Licensing Officer informed the Panel that the applicant (TD Cluster Ltd) had applied for a new Premises Licence for 382-386 High Street, Rochester, Kent ME1 1DJ.

All responsible authorities had been consulted in line with the Licensing Act 2003 and representations had been received from a member of the public, Pathways to Independence, the City of Rochester Society and Intra Community Trust. Conditions had been agreed with the Trading Standards and Kent Police. The location was within the Chatham High Street and New Road Stress Area.

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

The applicant’s representative, Mr Rushton, explained to the Panel that this was a new application for a general convenience store operating under the Cost Cutter brand which would sell a wide range of goods and approximately 10-15% of the floor space would be occupied by alcohol. The Panel’s attention was drawn to Mr Ratnam’s 14 years of previous experience as a Store Manager and of retailing alcohol at various premises.

The Panel were informed that the applicant would be the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) at the premises on a full time basis and would employ a workforce of 4 or 5 fully trained staff. Mr Rushton explained that comprehensive licensing conditions were in place to address the concerns identified by the location of the premises in the Chatham High Street and New Road Stress Area.

The Panel were informed that the licensing conditions included CCTV covering the whole of the inside space with 16 cameras and 4 cameras outside the premises, the use of Challenge 25, regular staff training and regular litter picks outside the premises. Mr Rushton explained that there would be no sales of stronger beer, lager or cider over 6.5% ABV and no sale of single cans of alcohol, however, if the Panel felt it more suitable the applicant would be agreeable to reducing the maximum ABV to 5.5%.

Mr Rushton explained that there had not been any objections from the Responsible Authorities and conditions had been agreed with Kent Police and Trading Standards and requested that the Panel grant the application based on the comprehensive licensing conditions and operating schedule that had been proposed with the application.

The Chairperson then gave the objectors the opportunity to question for the applicant and their representative.

Mr Fowler queried whether the applicant would be agreeable to a maximum upper limit of 5.5% instead of 6.5% for the sale of beers, lagers and ciders, to which they agreed they would be agreeable to lower the maximum ABV.

Mr Webb queried the staff training, floor space for alcohol, impact on the creation of litter and the opening hours. Mr Ruston explained that all staff would be fully trained and authorised prior to being able to sell alcohol and confirmed that approximately 10-15% of the floor space would be occupied by alcohol but the percentage sales from alcohol would not be known until trading had commenced. With regards to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 341.

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 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.