Agenda and draft minutes

There were no apologies.

There were no Substitute Members.

RESOLVED: That Councillor Garten be elected as Chairman for the duration of the meeting.

There were no disclosures by Members or Officers.

There were no disclosures of lobbying.

RESOLVED: That all items be taken in public, unless any Member of the panel wished to specifically refer to the information contained within Item 8 – Exempt Appendices to Item 7 – Application for Review of a Premises Licence under the Licensing Act 2003 for the Zoo, 10-11 Market Buildings, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1HP, in which case the Sub-Committee would enter into closed session due to the likely disclosure of exempt information.

The persons participating in the hearing were identified as follows:

1.  Chairman – Councillor Garten

2.  Sub-Committee Members – Councillors Joy and Trzebinski

3.  Senior Licensing Officer – Lorraine Neale

4.  Legal Advisor – Helen Ward

5.  Democratic Services Officer – Jordan Ifield

6.  Representative of the Applicant – Mark Davies

7.  The Applicant – PC James Williams

8.  Representative of the Licence Holder – Sarah Clover

9.  The Licence Holder – Christopher Dyer

10.Witness for the Licence Holder/Interested Party – Councillor Gordon Newton

11.Witness for the Licence Holder/Interested Party – Karl Winham

12.Witness for the Licence Holder/Interested Party – Jason Halle

13.Witness for the Licence Holder – Jack Steven

14.Interested Party – Victoria Smith

15.Interested Party – Robert Bearup

The Sub-Committee Members confirmed that they had read the papers regarding the hearing.

The Chairman explained that:

·  The Sub-Committee would allow all parties to put their case fully and make full submissions within a reasonable time frame.

·  The procedure would take the form of a discussion led by the Sub-Committee and they would usually permit cross-examination within a reasonable timeframe.

·  Any person attending the hearing who behaved in a disruptive manner may be directed to leave the hearing by the Sub-Committee (including temporarily) after which, such person may submit to the Sub-Committee any information which that person would have been entitled to give orally had the person not been required to leave the meeting. If this was not possible, they may be permitted to speak at the Chairman’s invitation.

The Senior Licensing Officer introduced the report and stated that Kent Police had applied for a review of The Zoo’s licence on the grounds of prevention of crime and disorder, public safety and preventions of public nuisance. References were made to the review application in Appendix 1 of the report, the current premise licence inAppendix 3 of the report, and the public consultation responses in Appendix 5 of the report.It was stated that the Applicant was requesting that the Sub-Committee; reduce the terminal hour for all licensed activities to 00:00 a.m., or reduce the terminal hour for the sale of alcohol to 00:00 a.m. and regulated entertainment to 1:00 a.m.

The Representative of the Applicant made their opening statement and stated that Kent Police had concerns about the premises regarding crime and disorder. It was stated that Kent Police had attempted efforts to reduce crime and disorder at the premises but these had been unsuccessful and that a hearing was requested to address this.

The Representative of the Applicant outlined the following incidents in the police report:

·  Appendix 1; A Marshal was responsible for striking a patron while removing multiple patrons from the premises. The patron was left unconscious and needed medical attention;

·  Appendix 2; A patron was allegedly removed with excessive force by a Security Industry Authority (SIA) door staff member. The incident was not recorded in the premises log book and a statement from another SIA doorman at the incident was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

RESOLVED: That the item be considered alongside Item 7 – Application for Review of a Premises Licence under the Licensing Act 2003 for The Zoo,10 - 11 Market Buildings, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1HP.