Agenda item

The applicant has applied for a new premises licence in respect of Gallegos, 68 Avery Way, Allhallows, Rochester, Kent, ME3 9PZ. All responsible authorities have been consulted in line with the Licensing Act 2003. Representations have been received from members of the public. Agreement has been reached between the applicant and the Police. 

Discussion:

 

The Chairman advised that the process the hearing would follow was set out on page 3 of the agenda pack.

 

The Licensing Officer stated that an application for a new premises licence in respect of Gallegos, 68 Avery Way, Allhallows, Rochester, Kent, ME3 9PZ had been received, to include:

 

Late Night Refreshment and Sale of Alcohol

 

Monday to Sunday 10:00 to 00:00 Midnight

 

Agreement has been reached with the Police by adding conditions to the operating schedule as set out at Appendix D to the report.

 

The application had been correctly advertised in the local press and notices displayed at the premises for the required timescale.

 

The Licensing Officer confirmed that, in accordance with section 9.14 of the Amended Guidance to the Licensing Act, discussions with Planning Services had confirmed that the class of use was A5 hot food takeaway and the hours were Sunday to Friday 10:00 to 22:00 and Saturday 10:00 to 22:30.

 

The matter had been put to the Licensing Hearing Panel as the Council had received relevant representations from members of the public relating to prevention of crime and disorder, the prevention of public nuisance and protecting children from harm.  Agreement had been reached between the applicant and the Police.

 

The following documents were included in the agenda pack:

 

Appendix A pages 11 – 27 – Application for new premises licence

Appendix B page 29 - Location plan

Appendix C pages 31 – 32 – Copies of representations received

Appendix D pages 33 – 34 – Agreement with Kent Police

 

The Chairman invited the applicant to present the application for a new premises licence. Mr Natesa said that the application was for class of use A5 for supply of alcohol Monday to Sunday 10:00 to 00:00 (midnight) and for provision of late-night refreshment Monday to Sunday 10:00 to 00:00 (midnight) Monday to Sunday.

 

Two objections had been received from local residents. One of these was on the grounds that the premises were located in a residential area and would therefore affect local residents and that there been anti-social behaviour in the area. Mr Natesa said that the premises had been an off licence in the past and that in order for his business to be sustainable he needed to acquire the licences applied for.

 

The other objection was on the grounds that Allhallows is a small village that had experienced anti-social behaviour. The objection suggested that granting the licence could increase anti-social behaviour and crime and disorder in the area, as well as impacting quality of life and not ensuring the protection of children from harm. Mr Natesa said that the premises were currently closed and that youths were hanging around in the area. The CCTV that would be installed, subject to his application being approved, would help to address this as would lighting, which would be installed at entrances and exits to the premises. Mr Natesa also said that the parties associated with the application were respectable parents who would want to ensure that children were protected from harm. This would be prevented through the use of CCTV and other licensing conditions that had been agreed with Kent Police.

 

The Chairman invited the objectors to ask any questions they had. Mr Reginal said that the installation of CCTV cameras would not prevent anti-social behaviour in the area, that there were crowds of people around until late at night and that Allhallows was a small village that was unsuitable for the activity proposed by the application. In response, Mr Natesa said that the village had previously hosted five off licenses. The applicant’s premises at 68 Avery Way, Allhallows had been an off licence. On 14 February 2011, an application had been made to change the use of the premises from class of use A1, off licence to class A5, takeaway. He said that the rate of crime and public nuisance in the area had increased in the time during which the premises had not been an off licence.

 

The Chairman invited Members of the Panel to ask questions. A Member asked for clarification as the proposed licensing conditions agreed with Kent Police specified that no alcohol would be displayed or stored in the trading area. However, the plans submitted as part of the application indicated that there would be a display cabinet in the public areas of the premises.

 

Mr Natesa said that the plans had been submitted before the proposed licensing conditions had been agreed with Kent Police. Mr Natesa advised that the plans would be altered following the agreement having been reached. Alcohol would be stored behind counter and would only be accessible by staff members.

 

In response to a Member question, Mr Geretheran confirmed that the premises were currently closed. He had held a personal licence for ten years and was aware of all the relevant rules and regulations, such as Challenge 21. Customers who did not have identification would not be served.

 

Mr Natesa said that Mr Geretheran had been a Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) for ten years and he trained members of staff. Mr Geretheran’s wife also worked in the trade. The premises had not been sustainable as a takeaway only business. Before 2011 it had been an off licence and this had also been unsustainable. Mr Natesa said that in order for the premises to be sustainable it needed to be able to trade as both a takeaway and off licence. He confirmed that refusals of sale of alcohol would be recorded in a refusal register, which would be kept on the premises. A Challenge 21 policy would be adopted by the premises and all the conditions proposed by Kent Police would be adhered to.

 

A Member asked for confirmation of the current hours of trading of the off licence that was next door to the premises. The Licensing Officer advised that the neighbouring premises was called Abbey Stores, the licensed hours of which were Monday to Saturday 8:00 to 23:00 and Sunday 10:00 to 22:30.

 

The Chairman invited the objectors to put forward their objections. Neither objector wished to add anything to the questions previously asked.

 

In response to a question from a Member of the Panel that asked how the premises would be staffed during the proposed 14 hours of opening, Mr Natesa said that the DPS would be available during the hours that alcohol was available for sale. Two staff members held personal licences and staff members working in the kitchen would be trained to enable them to become personal licence holders. Two further staff holding personal licences would be employed should the sale of alcohol licence be granted by the Panel. Five staff members in total would initially be personal licence holders.

 

There being no further questions, the Chairman invited all parties to sum up their cases. Mr Reginal said that the application for sale of alcohol and provision of late-night refreshment until midnight was anti-social in view of there already being neighbouring premises trading until late. Mr Reginal was concerned that the premises could open at all times of the day or night and considered the proposals to be unsuitable for a small village. In response, Mr Natesa said that there was a need for food to be available after 10/11pm and that there was a business need to be able serve customers from the nearby holiday park. He clarified that should the licenses being applied for be granted, the premises would only be able to open until midnight.

 

Summing up, Mr Natesa said that the premises had previously held a licence until 11pm and that the additional hour being requested until midnight would provide the business with a better chance of being successful, in view of the fact that businesses previously operating at the premises had failed.

 

However, should the Committee be minded to grant the sale of alcohol licence up until 23:00 rather than 00:00 (midnight), in order to be consistent with existing neighbouring premises, then Mr Natesa would request that the provision of late night refreshment be permitted up until 00:00.

 

Decision:

 

1.     The Panel considered all the written evidence before it and had listened carefully to all the oral evidence presented by the applicant and the proposed Designated Premises Supervisor and by the two members of the public who had objected to the application, and unanimously decided to grant part of the application and to refuse part of the application for a new premises licence for Gallegos, 68 Avery Way, Allhallows, Rochester, Kent, ME3 9PZ.

 

2.     The Panel granted the application in part to permit the supply of alcohol 10:00 hours to 23:00 hours Monday to Sunday.

 

The granting of this licence is subject to the following conditions, as agreed with Kent Police, being included in the operating schedule of the premises:

 

Conditions

 

1.     CCTV will be provided in the form of a recordable system, capable of providing pictures of evidential quality in all lighting conditions particularly facial recognition.

 

1)    Cameras shall record all ingress and egress to the premises, fire exits and all areas where the sale and supply of alcohol occurs.

2)    Equipment must be maintained in good working order, with recordings correctly time and date stamped. Recordings MUST be kept in date order, kept for a period of 31 days and handed to police and authorised officers on demand.

3)    The premises licence holder must ensure at all times a DPS or appointed member of staff are on the premises and are capable and competent at downloading CCTV footage in a recordable format to the police and local authority on demand.

4)    The recording equipment and discs/tapes shall be kept in a secure environment under the control of the DPS or other responsible named individual.

5)    An operational daily log report must be maintained and endorsed by signature, indicating the system has been checked and is compliant. In the event of any failures, any action taken is to be recorded.

6)    In the event of technical failure of the CCTV equipment the premises licence holder or DPS must report the failure to the police licensing officer immediately. (licensing.north.division@kent.police.uk).

 

2. No alcohol to be displayed or stored on the shop trading floor area.

 

3. A ‘clear glazing’ policy shall be implemented at the premises above 1 metre and below 2 metres, so staff have an unobstructed view of the area outside the front of the premises through the glass looking into the street. The exception to this shall be the display of notices required by law and any required as a condition of this licence.

 

4. A Challenge 21 scheme shall be operated at the premises.

 

5. Training will be provided for all staff before they are allowed to sell alcohol and will include Challenge 21, proof of age, management conflict and refusals records. The training will be documented. The Premises Licence Holder or Designated Premises Supervisor will check that the training has been understood. The training will be repeated at least every 6 months. Records of training will be provided to Responsible Authorities and the Licensing Authority on request.

 

6. The premises licence holder or designated premises supervisor must keep a refusal register. Staff to be trained to complete a refusal book/record immediately after the refusal but no later than the end of their shift. The register must be kept on the premises and will detail: 1. Day, date & time of refusal. 2. Item refused. 3. Name or description of person refused sale. 4. Reason for refusal. Each entry is to be checked and signed by the DPS/Licensee no later than 1 week after the entry has been made. The register must be made available for police, police licensing officer and authorised officers from Medway Council on demand either electronically or by hard copy.

 

3.     The Panel refused the application in part by refusing the application for the supply of alcohol 23:00 hours to 00:00 hours (midnight) Monday to Sunday.

 

4.     The Panel refused the application in part by refusing the application for the provision of late-night refreshment 23:00 hours to 00:00 hours (midnight) Monday to Sunday.

 

5.     The Panel refused the application in part and did not permit sale of alcohol or the provision of late night refreshment Monday to Sunday 23:00 hours to 00:00 hours (midnight) as it wanted to ensure that the hours during which the premises could undertake licensable activity were consistent with closing times of other existing premises in the area.

 

6.     The applicant had applied for a premises licence for the provision of late-night refreshment 10:00 to 00:00 (midnight). However, a licence for the provision of late-night refreshment only applies to such provision during the hours of 23:00 to 05:00. It is the intention of Panel that the premises is able to trade up until 23:00 in its capacity as a takeaway food premises as well as being able to supply alcohol for consumption off the premises up until 23:00.