Agenda, decisions and minutes

At this point Members must declare whether they have a disclosable pecuniary interest, or other interest, in any of the items on the agenda, unless it is already entered in the register of members’ interests or is a “pending notification “ that has been disclosed to the Solicitor to the Council.

Members must also declare if they are subject to their party group whip in relation to any items under consideration.

This Decision Notice refers to the application for the premises licence Hypermarket, 327 Lincoln Road, Peterborough.

We have considered the representations made to us today and in writing in objection to the licence application:

·         Cambridgeshire Constabulary

The premises lie within an area designated as a cumulative impact zone known as the ‘Op Can-do’ area, incorporating mainly the Millfield and New England areas of the City. On 18 April 2013 the Licensing Authority adopted a special policy concerning this area.

This area suffers from a proliferation of outlets selling alcohol. Many such outlets trade with ‘off sales’ licences. These premises being off licences and small grocery shops.

The ‘Can-do’ operation partnership with the City Council, Police, NHS and Community Groups is designed to address the issues caused by the sale of alcohol in this area.

These issues include alcohol abuse, which adversely affects the health of many of the residents who live in the area.

There are issues relating to street crime and anti-social behaviour in the area which are a drain on Police and the Authorities resources.

We are concerned with the increase in alcohol consumption and the detrimental effects it has on the community.

There is a rebuttable presumption not to grant further premises licences in a cumulative impact zone. However, the Licensing Authority recognises that such a policy is not absolute.

There are 93 premises authorised to sell alcohol in the area.

-       39 off sales only,

-       31 both on and off sales, and

-       23 on sales only

In order to rebut the presumption not to grant, Applicants need to address the special policy issues in the operating schedules and demonstrate why the operation of the premises will not add to the cumulative impact already being experienced.

We consider that the options available to us are:

·         To grant this licence as applied for,

·         To grant with additional conditions, or

·         To reject the application.

The Committee was impressed by the representation received from the applicant and were happy with the safety measures put in place. The applicant had experienced no relevant issues with his existing premises and it was believed that the measures suggested by the applicant would be sufficient in restricting the addition to any cumulative impact. We say that the granting of this premise licence would not add to the cumulative impact already being experienced because, by the admission of the Police, no additional footfall would be created. The Committee also believed that this was a food-led business with only a small area offering alcohol and that the hours applied for were more restricted than many of the establishments operating in the area.

Taking into consideration the representation from Cambridgeshire Constabulary the Committee felt that it would be appropriate to apply conditions which restricted:

• the sale of alcohol to the area designated on the application plan as ‘off licence shelves’; and
• the sale of alcohol  ...  view the full decision text for item 3.

AB

Meeting of the Licensing Act 2003 Sub-Committee

held at the Town Hall, Peterborough on Monday, 27 October 2014