Agenda item

Variation of Premises Licence - Spar 171 - 173 Pike Road, Efford, Plymouth, PL3 6HJ

The Director for Public Health will submit a report on the variation of a premises licence for Spar, 171 – 173 Pike Road, Efford. Plymouth, PL3 6HJ.

Minutes:

The Committee having:

 

(a)

considered the report from the Director for Public Health;

 

(b)

heard from the applicant as follows:

 

 

o    

the existing premises licence hours were between 8am – 11pm Monday – Saturday and 10.30pm on Sundays. The application was to vary the opening time to 6am in line with the shops opening times and to change closing time on a Sunday to 11pm and to remove the restrictions in relation to Good Friday and Christmas Day. This was in line with other Spar shops. Experience suggested that to have the alcohol sales time in line with opening hours also prevented problems with customers as refusing sales during opening hours was a potential source of conflict and tended to cause problems;

 

 

o    

the premises had been recently acquired and would be staffed by two experienced staff who have previously operated the branch in Devonport. The company itself has a wealth of experience in operating these stores;

 

 

o    

there had been no representations against the application from Responsible Authorities;

 

 

o    

in response to the concerns laid out in the representations:

 

 

 

·        

need for the licence was not a relevant consideration for the committee in its decision making;

 

 

 

·        

regarding the licence exacerbating existing problems with drugs and anti-social behaviour, the addition of hours was at the beginning of the day and also if it were a concern the Police or Environmental Health would have made representations;

 

 

 

·        

with regards to potential abuse of its staff, this was a factor in retailing regardless of alcohol sales;

 

 

 

·        

the notices advertising the application were displayed appropriately and evidence had been sent into the Licensing Officer to prove this;

 

 

 

·        

there was no evidence about alcohol issues in the store and the extension sought will not lead to the concerns raised as it is only 2 hours at the start of the day, 30 minutes on a Sunday and the removal restrictions on a Good Friday and Christmas Day;

 

 

 

·        

their business is a community food store and it is the only one in the immediate area. As they rely on the local community for their business the store would be unwise to do anything that would cause a problem for the local residents as it would affect business;

 

 

 

·        

there was no causal link for the concerns mentioned in the representations and no evidence to support them;

 

 

 

·        

all staff are individually trained and are re tested every six months. They have a challenge 25 policy and a refusal log. Their plans have been discussed in detail with the Police;

 

 

 

·        

referred the committee to paragraph 9.15 of the statutory guidance and paragraphs 54 and 55 of the Thwaite’s case;

 

(c)

considered the written representations from other parties as follows:

 

 

·        

there were existing problems with drug misuse in the area and the extension applied for would encourage more anti-social behaviour and late night disorder. Staff of the Coop, who used to operate the premises, have been verbally abused by alcohol fuelled customers in the past and the extension will not improve the situation. The extension will encourage more ASB and make the area more undesirable and frightening for residents and young children.

 

This was considered to be relevant under the crime prevention and prevention of public nuisance licensing objectives. It was noted that the extension related mainly to the morning hours and therefore the committee did not consider that the hours sought would lead to problems envisaged by the representation. It also noted that there had been no representation by any Responsible Authority. Therefore, the committee did not consider it appropriate to take any action to promote the licensing objectives in respect of this representation;

 

 

·        

the existing hours are entirely sufficient and there is no local need to extend the availability of alcohol. There is no benefit to the community by allowing this extension. This was not considered to be relevant as it did not relate to any of the licensing objectives.

 

(d)

noted that there had been no representations from Responsible Authorities on any issue.

 

Agreed that having considered the representations as set out above and taken into account what was said by the applicant's representative as detailed above, the application would be granted as applied for subject to the conditions consistent with the applicant’s operating schedule and the mandatory conditions as set out in the Licensing Act 2003.

Supporting documents: