1.

considered the report from the Director of Public Health;

2.

noted that there had been no representations made by the Devon and Cornwall police or any other responsible authorities;

3.

considered the operational standards document that had been provided by the applicant in response to the notice of hearing;

4.

heard from the two Directors of Tamar Gaming Limited (the applicant) as follows:

·        

this was an application for an Adult Gaming Centre (AGC);

·        

the two directors had over 50 years of industry experience and knowledge and have had their own business since 2008 supplying and operating gambling machines to social clubs and pubs;

·        

during their time in the industry they have been through many vetting processes as this is a heavily regulated job; they provide annual regulatory returns to the Gambling Commission and have an unblemished record with them; with their recent application to operate an AGC being granted by the Gambling Commission without any difficulties;

·        

the company will have sole control over the product and the premises in Plymstock;

·        

gambling needs to be taken seriously, but equally is a form of entertainment for people who like to have a “flutter”;

·        

the machines will be purely gambling machines and there will be no video gambling or push a prize/seaside arcade machines with jackpots ranging from £10 to £500;

·        

are limited to 20% of estate to be jackpot machines that offer £500 winnings, the rest will be limited to £100 or less;

·        

understand that gambling can be addictive but believe that problem gambling does not lie on the high street any longer.  Bookmakers used to have casino type machines with stakes up to £100, but now machines have a £2 stake which puts them on a level with AGC; as a consequence many bookmakers have decided to abort the high street leaving shops empty;

·        

will operate a Think 25 age policy; photo ID will be requested if required before being allowed to enter the premises;

·        

if licence granted, we have an experienced manager with 15 years industry experience; all staff will receive industry standard training both in terms of identifying vulnerable people who may need a time out from gambling and in maintaining the Think 25 age policy;

·        

both Directors have children and the last thing they would want would be for children to enter an AGC; to control this they will have a minimum of three external age verification test purchases a year, carried out in accordance with BACTA (trade body) standards; compliance results on this type of external test recorded a rate of 94% compliance for AGC compared to only 85% for other gambling industries;

·        

the establishment will not be busy throughout the day, rather there will be a steady footfall of clients; this allows staff to get to know their clients;

·        

the Directors take their social responsibility very seriously; they will operate a controlled environment; have invested in the latest technology to prevent people over extending themselves so if playing for over 30 minutes,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.