Agenda item

In accordance with Section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003, the Council has received an application from Kent Police, as a responsible authority, for a review of the existing premises license in respect of The Woodland Tavern, 99 Canterbury Street, Gillingham, Kent ME7 5TS.

Discussion:

The Licensing Officer informed the Committee that they had received an application from Kent Police for a review of the premises licence for The Woodland Tavern, 99 Canterbury Street, Gillingham, Kent ME7 5TS.  The application related to the licensing objectives of preventing crime and disorder and public safety. The Licensing Officer explained to the Committee that a representation had also been received from the Freeholder of the premises and could be found at Appendix D to the report.

The Chairperson invited Kent Police as the applicant for review to speak in support of their application.  PC Andre Smuts informed the Committee that Kent Police became concerned regarding the management of the premises due to an incident of crime and disorder on 8 March 2024 which was not bought to the attention of Kent Police. The Committee was informed that Kent Police were concerned with the lack of CCTV available following the incident and advised Mr Gaul as Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) to manage who worked at the premises following the incident.

Kent Police suggested that Mr Gaul consider adding some voluntary conditions to his Premises Licence regarding staff training and CCTV however Mr Gaul did not respond to attempts to contact him.

The Committee was informed that on 31 August 2024 a further incident of crime and disorder was reported to Kent Police and following this the premises did not report the incident and did not provide CCTV when requested to do so as the CCTV had only been saved for 8 days.

PC Andre Smuts explained that despite attempts to contact the premises licence holder, they did not receive a response and therefore requested the review so that the Committee could be asked to impose conditions regarding staff training, CCTV and the removal of the DPS.

Kent Police informed the Committee that Mr Gaul had now made contact with them and explained his reasons for not making contact earlier. Mr Gaul had now committed to adopting the conditions recommended by Kent Police and changing the DPS to the premises manager once they had received their personal licence.

The premises licence holder and Committee did not have any questions for the applicant for the review.

The premises licence holder informed the Committee that he was implementing a new training package, and this would apply to all staff.

The applicant for the review and Committee did not have any questions for the premises licence holder.

All parties were offered the opportunity to sum up but did not have anything further to add.

With the exception of the Legal Representative and the Democratic Services Officer, all present left the room during the Panel’s deliberations, returning to hear the Panel’s decision.

Decision:

The Committee listened carefully to the written and oral submissions from all parties in relation to the Premises licence review of The Woodland Tavern, 99 Canterbury Street, Gillingham, ME7 5TS.

The Committee considered the representations and evidence presented by Kent Police that raised serious concerns about the current Premises Licence and associated conditions.

The Committee considered that further conditions (to be added to the current conditions) were necessary and proportionate:

(i)             The imposition of a change of DPS by 8^th January 2025.

(ii)            The further conditions as referenced by PC Smuts of Kent Police are imposed (as provided on pages 80-81of the licensing agenda pack).

(iii)          All incidents of Crime and Disorder to be reported to the police utilising 999/101/online report/live chat facility where appropriate.