Kent Police
Chief Officer of Police Representation in relation to an application for grant of premises licence made under Part 3 Section 17 Licensing Act 2003 (S18 Licensing Act 2003)

Details of person making representation

Name of Chief Officer of Police

Chief Inspector Quiller

Postal Address:

(Area Headquarters)

Maidstone Police Station

Palace Avenue

Maidstone

Kent

E-mail address

west.division.licensing@kent.police.uk

Telephone Number:

Details of premises representation is about

Name of Premises:

German Donner Kebab

Address of premises:

79-85 Week Street

Maidstone

Kent

ME14 1RJ

Date application received by police

7^th August 2020

Date representation sent to Licensing Authority

3^rd September 2020

The Chief Officer of Police has received an application for the grant of a premises licence made under the provisions of Section 17 Licensing Act 2003, and under Section 18 of that Act, asks the Licensing Authority to consider these representations in respect of: -

Please tick one or more of the licensing objectives that the representation relates to:

Prevention of crime and disorder

X

Public Safety

X

Prevention of public nuisance

X

Protection of children from harm

X

If yes, complete the following statement: -

The relevant representation within the meaning of S.18(6) of the Licensing Act satisfy the requirements of S.18(9) of that Act and are as follows:

Please give the reason for the representation and detail the evidence supporting it:

The application received is for a restaurant to be located in a busy part of the town directly on a route that will be popular with people leaving town having spent a night enjoying the night-time economy. The premises are seeking to provide late night refreshment until 3am seven days a week there is no application to permit the sale of alcohol.

As with any premises providing licensable activities there are risks relating to these activities however when the premises are located within an already busy town centre and seeking such extensive hours the risks are greatly increased. Although this premises are not seeking to sell alcohol it will be patronised by those who have been consuming alcohol throughout the evening. There is a known link to the consumption of alcohol and disorder and these premises are likely to suffer from the effects of alcohol sold by other premises which requires careful and effective management to ensure that any issues are identified and dealt with at an early point to avoid escalation and the public being adversely affected by such incidents.

The premises will be a restaurant and takeaway which is likely to attract a wide range of customers and this will undoubtedly include families with children and young people of all ages, it is essential to ensure that all customers remain safe and are not caused unnecessary harm due to any uncontrolled behaviour of those at the venue, strict management measures must be in place to ensure their protection.

The hours requested by the applicant give rise to concerns for crime and disorder and public nuisance due to the possibility that the premises will be attractive to people already in town to enjoy the various licensed premises on offer. When these customers attend strong management will be required to ensure that there is no excessive noise or disorderly behaviour not only within the venue but also when customers are arriving and leaving. These strong management controls will ensure that the local community is not adversely affected by the patrons of the premises and should reduce the likelihood of an increase in crime and disorder in the area associated with the premises.

The applicant has proposed measures within the application which indicate some management controls however Kent Police does not feel that these are sufficient to give confidence that the premises will address the concerns. Therefore Kent Police would seek the addition of the conditions detailed below in order to ensure that the licensing objectives are promoted at all times.

Suggested conditions that could be added to the licence to remedy the representation or other suggestions the Licensing Sub Committee may take into account:

Kent Police seeks the attachment of the following conditions to any premises licence granted under this application:

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 encompass 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, be correctly time and date stamped, recordings MUST be kept on the hard drive and kept for a period of 31 days and handed to Police upon reasonable request. 
3. The premises licence holder must ensure at all times a DPS or appointed member of staff is capable and competent at downloading CCTV footage in a recordable format to the Police and Local Authority upon reasonable request.

2. No glassware will be used to serve drinks to customers at any time during the operation of the premises.
3. Signage will be prominently displayed requesting customers to leave the premises quietly and respect the neighbouring properties
4. All staff will be fully trained of their obligations under the Licensing Act 2003, this training will be recorded. Training records will be kept and made available for inspection by Police, Licensing Authority or Trading Standards upon reasonable request.
5. An incident log will be maintained at the premises and records kept of any incident that occurs whether police were called/attended or not.