(a)

considered the report from the Director of Public Health;

(b)

considered the information that the Devon and Cornwall Police had reached an agreement with the applicant regarding licensing hours and subsequently withdrew their representation;

(c)

heard from the applicants and considered the applicant’s written representations that -

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they took on the business four to five months ago, to help local customers, introduced a cash machine and other important services to the shop;

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they had working class customers who requested to buy alcohol later than the current opening hours and also people shopped on their way home from night shifts, who had requested to buy alcohol in the morning which was why they wished to sell alcohol from 6am;

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they had invested in the shop to provide a local business and wanted to provide flexibility for the community;

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that they also owned three garages that sold alcohol and the garages would cater for people driving to the area to buy alcohol, rather than customers driving to this shop;

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there was a different set of customers for the shop than the garages; the shop’s customers were mainly working class or older residents some of whom did not even drive and had been in the area for 30 to 40 years;

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this was their first venture into retail;

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they were willing to work with the Police over any concerns around selling alcohol during football matches;

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they had negotiated with the Police to change their application from applying for opening and alcohol licence from 24 hours to 6am to 1am, Monday to Sunday; this reduction in the hours of their application was to combat the problems that were experienced between 1am and 3am when all pubs and clubs were closing and people were making their way back home; the change in hours limited access to alcohol to combat public nuisance;

(d)

they had the following in place to deal with the licensing objectives -

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Prevention of Crime and Disorder -

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the premises was covered by CCTV and panic attack button equipment directly linked to the Police; the premises was covered by CCTV inside and outside;

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high value products were located behind the till;

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staff were regularly guided/trained in how to prevent crime and disorder in the store;

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there was no evidence, in the last six months in relation to any crime, disorder or anti-social behaviour at the premises, or related to the management of the premises which had to be registered with the local authority;

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Public Safety -

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provided details of safety of the public on the premises, in terms of fire safety and electrical certificate, fire extinguishers on the premises and up keep/maintenance of the CCTV system;

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Prevention of Public Nuisance -

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staff were fully trained regarding sale of alcohol and followed Challenge 25 selling policy;

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had a bin just outside the premises to minimise litter, this was regularly emptied; also undertook regular litter picking to keep frontage clean;

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maintained an incident book of details of occurrences of disorder, refusal of alcohol and other safety certificates, all were available for inspection by the relevant authorised bodies;

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monitored customer misbehaviour in store and had a zero tolerance for any abuse related to staff;

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Protection of Children from Harm -

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had recently had a test purchase carried out in the premises by Plymouth City Council where the member of staff successfully refused the sale of age restricted produce to under age customers;

(e)

considered representations from Interested Party as follows:

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Prevention of Public Nuisance and Prevention of Crime and Disorder -

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noise and litter late at night – Milehouse Road could be very noisy on weekend evenings, with drunks making their way home and deliberately causing noise by shouting and kicking the bus stop signs; on occasions, this extended to kicking car wing mirrors off; the area of the junction, bus shelters and entrance to Central Park became littered with food debris and packaging and broken glass was common; it was intimidating for the residents, many of who were elderly;

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people leaving the pub late, after the evenings drinking should not be encouraged to buy alcohol;

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vulnerable residents – providing 24 hour access to alcohol was likely to be detrimental to some occupants of nearby sheltered or hostel accommodation;

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street drinkers – 24 hours of off sales were likely to encourage street drinkers who currently congregated on the steps of the snooker club building in warmer weather; this was situated on the edge of two areas covered by PSPO relating to alcohol;

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youths/Central Park stake park – the skate park was floodlit all night and a congregating point for teenagers; often observed broken glass, cans or bottles on the path to this area; whilst there was no problem with the use of the stake park, there was a belief that they should not benefit from easier access to alcohol;

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although had concerns about the area, acknowledged that the premises had been well run since this applicant had taken over.

(1)

the sale of alcohol could take place between 6am to 12 midnight, Monday to Sunday for a trial period of six months;

(2)

if, during the six month period any objection or representation is received from any resident or Responsible Authority about the premises, the application would be referred back to the Licensing Committee;

(3)

if no representations are received during this time, then these hours will become permanent.