Visitors and members of the public who are unfamiliar with the building and procedures are advised that:

(a)      The fire alarm is a continuous loud ringing. In the event that a fire drill is planned during the meeting, the Chair will advise of this.

(b)      Exit routes from the chamber are located on each side of the room, one directly to a fire escape, the other to the stairs opposite the lifts.

(c)      In the event of the alarm sounding, leave the building via the nearest safe exit and gather at the assembly point on the far side of the car park. Do not leave the assembly point or re-enter the building until advised to do so. Do not use the lifts.

(d)      Anyone unable to use the stairs should make themselves known during this agenda item.

The Chair outlined the emergency evacuation procedure.

The Chair opened the meeting and asked those present to introduce themselves.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their families or friends.

The Chair will ask Members if they have any disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) or disclosable non-pecuniary interests (DNPIs) to declare in respect of items on the agenda. Members with a DPI in an item must leave the room for that item and may not participate in the debate or vote. 

Aside from disclosable interests, where a fair-minded and informed observer would think there was a real possibility that a Member might be biased or predetermined on an item, the Member should declare this and leave the room while that item is considered.

Members who are in any doubt about interests, bias or predetermination should contact the monitoring officer for advice prior to the meeting.

No interests were declared.

To review the licence of Premier, Macknade Stores, Canterbury Road, Faversham, ME13 8NG.

Additional documents from the Premises Licence Holder’s representative added 14.05.25.

The Licensing Officer introduced the report which asked Members to consider a review of a premises licence granted under the Licensing Act 2003 made by Kent Police in respect of Macknade Stores, Canterbury Road, Faversham.  She reported that the grounds for the review related to the following licensing objectives: the protection of public safety; and the protection of children from harm and related to an allegation of the sale of alcohol to a child.

The Licensing Officer referred to Appendix II (the application for the review of the licence from Kent Police), Appendix III (communication from Kent Police to the licence holder), and Appendix IV (witness statement from PC Knight).  She reported that Kent Police had also provided CCTV and body-worn camera footage of the incident, which had been shared with Members of the Sub-Committee and the premises licence premises holder’s representative prior to the hearing.

The Licensing Officer reported that during the 28-day consultation a representation was received from Kent County Council (KCC) Trading Standards, set-out at Appendix VII of the report.  The Licensing Officer reported that Mr Kheng (the licensee’s representative), had submitted a portfolio of evidence which had been provided in advance of the meeting.  She further reported that additional information submitted Friday 9 May 2025 by the applicant’s representative had been received and it had been agreed by all parties that the information could be considered. 

The Licensing Officer reported that Kent Police sought additional conditions to be added to the licence, as set-out at Appendix V of the report and that they were also seeking a period of suspension of the licence to allow the additional conditions to be implemented should they be approved by the Sub-Committee. 

The Chair invited Kent Police to present their case. 

PC Andrew Smuts (Kent Police) read-out their evidence as set-out at Appendix II of the report.  He referred to the additional conditions they would like to see imposed on the licence, and was pleased to note that the licensee agreed to implement those conditions and that Mr Shivam Patel had obtained his personal licence.  He asked that the Sub-Committee agree to suspend the licence until the proposed additional conditions were ‘embedded’ at the premises and to allow the licensee time to ‘reflect’ on what had happened.

The Chair invited the Sub-Committee to ask questions.

A Member asked whether the Police considered that on speaking to Shivam Patel whether he understood the laws in respect of the sale of alcohol and vapes?  PC Smuts said that whilst he had not asked Shivam directly if he understood that it was illegal to sell alcohol and vapes to persons under the age of 18, Shivam had immediately said that she had shown ID to confirm she was 18-years of age so it was assumed he did know.

The Chair invited interested parties to ask questions.

The Senior Lawyer (Contentious) said that since the review was submitted there had been evidence that training had been provided so how did that impact the request  ...  view the full minutes text for item 820.

The meeting was adjourned from 10.08 am until 10.16 am and 11.19 am until 11.22 am.