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 Chairman outlined the emergency evacuation procedure.

The Chair opened the meeting and asked those in attendance 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 consider a new premises licence for Cave Hotels, Boughton, Faversham.

The Licensing Team Leader introduced the report which asked Members to consider a new premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003 for the Cave Hotel & Golf Resort, Brickfield Lane, Boughton.  She drew attention to the existing licence which was set-out at Appendix (IV) of the report and referred to the new licence application as set-out in paragraph 3.2 of the report.  The Licensing Team Leader referred to paragraph 4.2 of the report setting-out a summary of representations from responsible authorities, which included conditions requested by Kent Police.  With regard to a request from Swale Borough Council’s (SBCs) Environmental Health Team for the imposition of a condition requiring a Noise Management Plan (NMP), she confirmed that the wording for this had now been agreed by the applicant and the Environmental Health Team.  A draft condition was enclosed with the agenda.  She confirmed that no representations had been received from any of the other responsible authorities.

The Licensing Team Leader reported that 52 representations from members of the public had been received and these were set-out at Appendix V of the report.

The Chair invited the Applicant to present their case.

Mr Jonathan Callister, the applicant, spoke in support of the application.  He said that they had owned the Cave Hotel & Golf Resort for 25 years and that he was also a resident in a nearby village.  Mr Callister spoke about the challenges they had encountered as a business during the Covid-19 pandemic.  He acknowledged that, with the number of complaints received, they had made mistakes for which he apologised. 

Mr Callister said that the key components of the application included no music outside including in the marquee after 11 pm and no live music after 10 pm.  They would also be reducing the amount of firework displays to further limit disruption to the local residents.

Mr Luke Elford, Solicitor for the Applicant, felt that some local residents misunderstood what they were applying for and what it entailed.  Mr Elford explained that there was little difference between the existing licence and the one applied for which he outlined.  He explained the application was not seeking an extension of licensable activities.

Mr Elford explained that they had engaged an extremely experienced acoustic consultant, Mr Richard Vivian.  He stated that the licence being applied for was backed-up by a comprehensive operating schedule and set of conditions.  They also ensured the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) was on-site to cover all events and would provide a direct line for residents to the DPS if they had any concerns.  Mr Elford explained that they were applying for the licence because the old licence only included conditions for a golf club and not a hotel. 

Mr Elford reiterated that they were extremely sorry that local residents had been disturbed by their premises.  He said that having read all 52 of the objection letters it was clear the two main areas of concern to the local residents were: music noise and fireworks at events.  Mr Elford explained that during  ...  view the full minutes text for item 371.

The meeting was adjourned at 1.55 pm and reconvened at 2.05 pm.