Agenda item

The applicant has applied for a new premises licence for Demart Global Food Store, Unit 2, 14 High Street, Gillingham, Kent ME7 1BB. The application is to request the sale of alcohol off the premises.  All responsible authorities have been consulted in line with the Licensing Act 2003.

Representations have been received from Public Health, Kent Police and a Councillor from a neighbouring Ward in relation to all four of the licensing objectives.  To date, no agreements have been reached.  No further representations have been received from members of the public or other responsible authorities. 

Discussion:

The Panel was advised that officers from the Licensing Unit had informed the applicant of the date and time of the hearing but the applicant had not made contact in advance to confirm their attendance or request a deferral. The applicant was reached by phone at the premises on the morning of the hearing and belatedly requested a deferral but this was refused by the Panel in light of the lateness of the request. The Panel therefore agreed to proceed with the hearing in the applicant’s absence.

The Principal Licensing and Enforcement Officer stated that the application was to request the sale of alcohol off the premises. All responsible authorities had been consulted in line with the Licensing Act 2003 and representations in relation to all four licensing objectives had been received from Public Health, Kent Police and a Councillor from a neighbouring ward. 

The following documents were included in the agenda for the Panel’s consideration:

Appendix A – Pages 9 to 25: A copy of the application as submitted

Appendix B – Page 27: A copy of the floor plan

Appendix C – Page 29: A copy of a map showing the location of the premises

Appendix D – Pages 31 to 59: Copies of representations received. 

In the absence of the applicant, the Panel noted the details of the application.

The Chairman invited those who had submitted representations against the application to state their objections. On behalf of Kent Police, PC Hill expressed concern that the premises were in a location which attracted a number of street drinkers.  The applicant had not mentioned this issue in the premises licence application which had led the Police to conclude that the applicant had failed to conduct sufficient research before submitting the application. PC Hill noted that the premises were small and he was concerned that the sale of alcohol would be the main focus of the business. He had tried to make contact with the applicant to discuss the application, but had been unable to. He expressed concern that the statements in section M of the application describing the steps that the applicant intended to take to promote the four licensing objectives were too generic.  Although Kent Police opposed the application, they had suggested a number of conditions, included within the agenda, should the Panel be minded to grant a licence. 

The Health Improvement Project Co-ordinator presented the report of the Director of Public Health, which was appended to the agendareport and provided statistical information on the area in which the premises were located.This highlighted that the area was among the most deprived in Medway.She referred to a study commissioned by Public Health in 2014 which identified a clear link between alcohol related harms, hospital admissions, alcohol related crimes and deprived areas where there was a density of licensed premises. The Director’s report highlighted the high levels crime and ambulance call-outs in the area and also the issues of alcohol related litter and street drinking. The evidence showed that there was a concentration of licenced premises, particularly off licences, in both the immediate and wider area, and the Director believed that the granting of another premises licence for the sale of alcohol would fail to promote the licensing objectives in this area and therefore asked that the application be refused. In the event that the Panel was minded to grant a licence, a number of suggested conditions were included in the Director’s report. 

In response to questioning by Panel members, PC Hill said that, although there was no requirement for applicants to enter into discussions with the Police, it was unusual for them not to do so.  The Health Improvement Project Co-ordinator confirmed that street drinkers tended to congregate around the entrance to the Great Lines park area. 

As neither party wished to sum up, the Chairman asked the representatives of Kent Police, the Health Improvement Project Co-ordinator and the Principal Licensing and Enforcement Officer to leave the room during the Panel’s deliberations.  They returned to hear the Chairman’s announcement of the Panel’s decision.

Decision:

a)     The Panel considered the evidence presented by the applicant in their application form, the written and oral evidence presented at the hearing by those who had submitted representations against the application, and had regard to both Medway Council’s current Licensing Policy and the Statutory Guidance.

b)     The Panel determined that the application for a premises licence for Demart Global Food Store, Unit 2, 14 High Street, Gillingham, Kent, ME741BB, be refused as the applicant had failed to demonstrate a full understanding of the four licensing objectives, set out in the Licensing Act 2003, and how to fulfil them.

c)    The absence of the applicant at the hearing had not given the Panel the opportunity to fully explore these issues.