Agenda item

To consider a new Premises Licence application for The Royal Supermarket, 56 Balmoral Road, Gillingham following the submission of representations, received during the consultation period.

Discussion:

The Chairperson explained the process that the hearing would follow as outlined on page 4 of the agenda.

The Licensing Officer informed the Panel that the applicant had applied for a new Premises Licence for The Royal Supermarket, 56 Balmoral Road, Gillingham, ME7 4PG.  The application had been received on 25 November 2024 and was for Sale by Retail of Alcohol, off sales from Monday to Sunday 09:00 to 23:00. 

All responsible authorities had been consulted in line with the Licensing Act 2003 and the application had been correctly advertised in the local press and notices displayed on the premises for the required period.

Representatives were received from Public Health, on 12 December 2024, in relation to two of the licensing objectives:  the prevention of crime and disorder and the prevention of public nuisance.  The report could be found in Appendix C of the report.   On 19 December 2024, representation was received from Kent Police in relation to three of the licensing objectives: the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety and the prevention of public nuisance.  The report could be found in Appendix D of the report.

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

The applicant’s representative, Mr Daly, informed the Panel that the premises had been before a Licensing Hearing Panel back in December 2020.  The representative and the applicant, Mr Sebastian, had given more consideration to this application than the previous one.  The applicant had been managing the shop now for 4 years and had previously run a shop locally.

The applicant and his representative had researched the local area and reviewed the local policies.  The applicant had acknowledged that his premises were located within a Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIP) area and understood the 3 main conditions to reduce the impact on the area which were:   no alcohol being sold over 5.5% ABV, no multi-packs of alcohol being sold and less than 15% of the floor area to be dedicated to alcohol.  The applicant’s representative proposed amending the hours of off sales of alcohol, Monday to Sunday to 11:00 to 22:00.

The representative confirmed that enhanced training would be provided to the applicant and the other staff members on Challenge 25, making staff aware of underage sales and street drinkers.  

The representative confirmed that this was a small independent shop that wished to operate in Gillingham and would not undermine the four licensing objectives.  Alcohol sales would be an ancillary part of this business.

The objectors were then given the opportunity to express their concerns.

Claire Hurcum raised public health concerns regarding the high levels of street drinkers in the CIP.  She confirmed that the CIP had been reviewed and renewed in May 2024.  The CIP borders deprived areas of Gillingham and public health had concerns regarding the hidden harm of alcohol abuse like domestic abuse, assault, sexual offences, public nuisance and disturbances and alcohol related litter.  

PC Andre Smuts expressed concerns from Kent Police about the high levels of alcohol related crime in the area and concerns regarding street drinkers, anti-social behaviour and associated nuisance which could be linked to premises that sold alcohol.

PC Andre Smuts acknowledged the applicant had recognised the CIP and understood the impact in the local area, however, another off-license would only make alcohol more widely available in this area.

PC Mark Squires clarified that the applicant may wish to work with Safer Medway Partnership who offer a crime information sharing system (DISC) between local premises.

The Panel thanked the objectors and stated the photographic evidence of litter spoke more than words.

Following a question from the Panel, PC Smuts confirmed he had no specific statistics, at present, on the number of underage drinkers.

The Panel then asked the applicant how many people were employed in the shop and the applicant confirmed there were two.

In summing up, the representative highlighted that training and support would be given and any due diligence paperwork would be provided.

Claire Hurcum stated that even though the majority of photographic evidence in the agenda pack showed low strength alcohol (less than 5.5% ABV), evidence had shown that this would have very little or no impact on street drinking.

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 Panel considered all the written evidence and listened carefully to the oral evidence presented by the applicant and objectors.  The Panel did not consider there was anything exceptional regarding this application, although acknowledged that it was a good application and the Panel recognised that the applicant had identified that the premises were located within the CIP area and had suggested conditions to address the rebuttable presumption.  The Panel considered it did not meet the high test of exceptionality, therefore, the Panel refused the application for the Premises License for The Royal Supermarket, 56 Balmoral Road, Gillingham ME7 4PG.