Agenda item

The applicant has applied for a variation to their existing Premises Licence in respect of Chatham Town Football Club, Maidstone Road Sports Ground, Maidstone Road, Chatham, ME4 6LR.  The variation is to increase the opening times; add licensable activities (both indoors and outdoors); extend the licence to cover the extended bar area and the whole ground surrounding the pitch (including the Directors box). All responsible authorities have been consulted in line with the Licensing Act 2003.

Representations have been received from members of the public and to date no agreements have been reached.

Discussion:

The Licensing and Local Land Charges Manager said that, in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003, the Council had received an application for a variation to the existing premises licence for Chatham Town Football Club to:

·         Increase the opening times;

·         Add licensable activities (both indoors and outdoors);

·         Extend the licence to cover the extended bar area and the whole ground surrounding the pitch (including the Directors box).

However, the applicant had subsequently amended the application so that it applied only to the clubhouse and to reduce the hours requested to no later than 24:00 hours. 

The Licensing and Local Land Charges Manager confirmed that the application had been correctly advertised in the local press and notices had been displayed at the premises for the required timescale.

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

·         Appendix A - pages 9 to 20: A copy of the application submitted.

·         Appendix B - pages 21 and 22: A copy of the existing licence.

·         Appendix C - page 23: A location plan showing the approximate location of the application

·         Appendix D – pages 25 to 32: Copies of the representations received from members of the public.

The Licensing and Local Land Charges Manager said that, in accordance with section 9.14 of the Amended Guidance to the Licensing Act 2003, she had been in discussions with Council colleagues in the Planning Service and could confirm that there was no planning history currently available for this site.

She concluded that the application had been referred to the Licensing Hearing Panel for consideration and determination because relevant representations against the application had been received.

The Chairman invited the applicant to clarify the revised application to vary the premises licence and speak in favour of it. The applicant confirmed that the variations to the current premises licence that were now being applied for related to the clubhouse only and not the outside areas. In addition, no licensable activity was requested beyond 24:00 hours. Therefore, the request for late night refreshment (indoors), Thursday to Sunday, was reduced from 02:00 hours to 24:00 hours. All other parts of the application were unchanged except that they were now for indoors only.

In response to questions from the residents opposed to the application, the applicant said that the football club wished for extended licensable activities because it had ambitious plans to progress up the leagues, and there was a need for the club to generate increased income.  It was envisaged that this could, in part, be achieved through bookings for private parties and the additional hours and activities requested would help to achieve this. The applicant sought to reassure residents that it was unlikely there would be functions at the venue every weekend. She said that she would monitor all events and was always contactable by mobile phone should residents have concerns.  The applicant said that the club’s premises licence covered the whole week to enable events during bank holidays; otherwise the club would have to apply for Temporary Event Notices. In response to a question about any plans that the club had to expand the site, the applicant confirmed that there were no such plans.

In response to questions from members of the Panel, the applicant said that the clubhouse had large steel doors which did not allow noise to escape.  She said that, during events, she walked around the outside of the venue to check that the noise levels were not affecting nearby residents.  With regard to the clubhouse, she said that this had a capacity of around 75 to 80 people and needed to be pre-booked. If there was a party of young people, the organisers would be asked to provide security. She explained the steps that the club took to protect children, including employing a children’s safeguarding officer and undertaking DBS checks.          

Next, the Chairman asked the residents to present their objections to the application. They expressed concern that, if the premises licence was extended, there would be increased anti-social activity, such as noise disturbance from the venue and as people left to return to their cars, inconsiderate parking and litter, and sought reassurance about how noise levels were checked. In addition, it was likely that more cars would park in Bournville Avenue, which was not a wide road and there had been a history of accidents and damage to parked cars.

In response to a question from the applicant regarding evidence that cars had had been damaged by people leaving the venue, residents responded that there was an incident where it was believed this was the case. However, the general concern was increased volume of traffic.

In response to questions from members of the Panel, residents confirmed that they did not currently hear noise from the clubhouse.

The Chairman asked both parties if they wished to sum up.  The applicant stressed that she, and the club, were always willing to assist residents with any concerns. She reassured residents that the clubhouse would not be used as an all-day drinking venue.  

The Chairman then asked the applicant, residents and the Licensing and Local Land Charges Manager to leave the room during the Panel’s deliberations.  They returned to hear the Chairman’s announcement of the Panel’s decision.

Decision:

The Panel considered the written and oral evidence presented at the hearing, and had regard to both Medway Council’s current Licensing Policy and the Statutory Guidance.

The Panel determined that the application to vary the premises licence for Chatham Town Football Club, Maidstone Road Sports Ground, Maidstone Road, Chatham, ME4 6LR, as amended, be approved but adjusted the times for certain licensable activities in order to meet the licensing objectives and reduce the potential for a negative impact on residents.  The agreed licensable activities and times were as follow:

Live Music (indoors)

Thursday to Saturday                                  10:00 – 24:00

Sunday                                                          10:00 – 23:00

Recorded Music (indoors)

Sunday to Wednesday                               10:00 – 23:00

Thursday to Saturday                                  10:00 – 24:00

Late night refreshments (indoors)

Thursday to Saturday                                  10:00 – 24:00

Sunday                                                          10:00 – 23:00

Supply of alcohol (indoors)

Sunday to Wednesday                               10:00 – 23:00

Thursday to Saturday                                  10:00 – 24:00

Seasonal Variation

Good Friday                                                  12:00 – 22:30

Christmas Day                                              12:00 – 15:00 and 19:00 – 22:30

Bank Holiday Mondays                              10:00 – 24:00

Hours the premises are open to the public

Sunday to Wednesday                               10:00 – 23:00

Thursday to Saturday                                  10:00 – 24:00

Seasonal Variation

Good Friday                                                  12:00 – 22:50

Christmas Day                                              12:00 – 15:00 and 19:00 – 22:50

Bank Holiday Mondays                              10:00 – 24:00