There were no apologies for absence.

No declarations of interest.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and went through the process he intended to follow during the Panel. He further explained that once everyone had made their submissions and all questions had been answered, the hearing would close to all parties except the Panel, the Council’s Legal Advisor and the Committee & Scrutiny Assistant, for the Panel to consider their decision.

The Licensing Panel was asked to determine an application for a variation to a premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003 in respect of the premises known as The Kings Head Sports Bar, 8 – 9 King Street, Gravesend, Kent DA12 2EB.

The Senior Licensing Officer gave a brief overview of the application and background information to the Panel. 

The application was submitted by Mr Ismail Sucu for a Variation to an existing Premises Licence under section 34 of the Licensing Act 2003. A copy of the application was attached at Appendix C.

The application was for:

·         Screening of sporting events on televisions and the sale and supply of alcohol from a bar in the external patio area at the rear of the premises from 11am until Midnight on Monday to Thursday, 11am until 02:30hrs Friday to Saturday and from 12:00pm until Midnight on Sunday

The applicant addressed the Panel and outlined the reasons for his application, his background history running the Kings Head Sports Bar, addressed the concerns raised by the objector and explained his position due to the pandemic. 

The Chair opened the Panel to allow questions from Councillors; the below responses were received from the applicant:

·         The beer garden in The Kings Head was 200 square metres and could fit fifty people within it; there would be two SIA licensed door staff in the beer garden along with another two SIA licensed door staff in the bar and another two standing at the entrance door

·         The beer garden was situated on one acre of land and connected to Brew House Yard which had numerous fire exists in place; evacuating bar customers in the outbreak of a fire would not be an issue

·         The bar and beer garden had an up to date fire risk assessment in place, it was renewed every December; the applicant was unsure if it included the max occupancy level however the applicant advised that the bar could hold 150 customers in total which included the beer garden maximum of 50 customers

·         The Licence currently allowed live music to be played but only DJ sets playing recorded music had ever been used inside the bar; no live music was ever played inside or outside the bar

·         Inside the bar were roughly a dozen televisions which were all silenced as they played a variety of different sports throughout the day. When a major sporting event such as an important Premier League game or Boxing match was on then the sound would be played on all of the televisions. Most of the sporting events played at the bar were recorded but there were a few  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.