Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Town Hall, High Street, Maidstone

Contact: Caroline Matthews  01622 602743

Items
No. Item

49.

Disclosures by Members and Officers

Minutes:

There were no disclosures by Members and Officers.

 

 

50.

Disclosures of Lobbying

Minutes:

There were no disclosures of lobbying.

 

 

51.

Exempt Items

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  That the items be taken in public as proposed.

 

 

52.

Application for a premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003 for Co-Operative, 1 Buckingham Drive, Harrietsham, Kent, ME17 1GF pdf icon PDF 142 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman requested that all those participating in the hearing identified themselves as follows:-

 

Councillor Mrs Hinder – Committee Chairman

Councillor Newton – Committee Member

Councillor McLoughlin – Committee Member

Mr Robin Harris – Legal Advisor

Mrs Caroline Matthews – Democratic Services Officer

Mr Richard Arnot – Solicitor (for Co-Operative Group Food Limited)

Mr Craig Smith – Acquisitions Manager (for Co-Operative Group Food Limited)

 

The Chairman asked all parties to confirm that they were aware of the hearing procedure and that each had a copy of the procedure document.

 

The Committee Members confirmed that they had pre-read all the papers and any other documents contained in the report regarding the hearing.

 

The Legal Advisor outlined the application and advised that the Applicant had applied for a Premises Licence for a Co-Operative Convenience Store at 1 Buckingham Drive, Harrietsham, Kent ME17 1GF.

 

The Members of the Committee were advised that during the consultation period one representation had been received from a local resident objecting to the Premises Licence under Crime and Disorder, Public Safety and Public Nuisance.

 

The Legal Advisor, Mr Harris, advised the Sub-Committee that Officers had written to the objector requesting that he expanded further on his comments but he had not responded.  As the objector was not in attendance, Members could decide to postpone the hearing or make a decision taking into account the objector’s original comments received and contained within the papers.  The Sub-Committee concluded that they had sufficient information to continue with the hearing.

 

The Chairman invited Mr Arnot, on behalf of Co-Operative Group Food Limited, to provide his opening remarks.

 

Mr Arnot advised Members that the Co-Operative Group had over 2,200 shops nationwide and this particular convenience store in Harrietsham would open in August 2018.  It would be essentially a convenience store, with about 15% of the sales expected to be attributable to the sale of alcohol.

 

The Sub-Committee was informed that the Co-Operative Group Food Limited took their responsibilities seriously and spent time developing and training staff and ensured that each area had a Risk Manager.  All staff were required to go through a rigorous induction process and are put on ‘lock down’ for a period of 4 weeks before they are allowed to sell alcohol to the public whilst undergoing training with a supervisor. 


It was also noted that there was a robust system in place to ensure that members of the public purchasing alcohol were challenged.  The till would prompt the cashier to check whether the customer is over 18 and they also operated the Challenge 25 Scheme.

 

It was noted that there would be 10 CCTV cameras inside the shop and another 2 outside.

 

The Sub-Committee were advised that although there were 11 car parking spaces outside the Shop allocated to the Co-Operative Store, there would be no means of enforcing their exclusive use.  It was hoped that the majority of customers would be those on the estate who used the store for their convenience so the spaces allocated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.