A new convenience store in Hailsham has secured a licence to sell alcohol.
On Tuesday (June 4), a Wealden District Council licensing sub-committee considered an application seeking a premises licence for a new convenience store at 84a London Road — a building last occupied by a heating and plumbing company.
Through its application, the store had been seeking permission to sell alcohol from 7am to 9pm, seven days a week.
The proposals came in front of councillors in light of objections from local residents. Their concerns included noise and the sale of alcohol attracting antisocial behaviour in the nearby area.
Jon Payne, the applicant’s legal representative, disputed these concerns, arguing the conditions his client had offered — including use of CCTV cameras and a Challenge 25 policy — would ‘deal with’ such issues.
Mr Payne said: “The application incorporates a significant number of conditions which go to the matters which are raised in opposition to the application.
“What we say is that those measures are more than sufficient to deal with the suggestions that there could be problems.”
He added: “There is something in the region of a £400,000 budget set aside for refurbishment, which will include things like CCTV, to bring these premises, which frankly at the moment are lacklustre to be polite, up to a much better standard which fit in much better with the surrounding area.”
Liberal Democrat ward councillor Glynn White, who lives nearby the site, was among those who had raised concerns about the application.
Speaking at the hearing, Cllr White said: “Youths do gather around the nearby roundabout and I do believe that it would attract.
“If that happens — and I know this is not a licensing issue — how would behaviour be controlled if you’ve only perhaps got one person inside the shop. How would they react to it? Would they shut the shop to deal with it? Are there always going to be two people on at one time? I don’t know.”
Cllr White went on to argue that the store should close earlier and not operate at all on Sundays.
He also said he was “sceptical” about the eight letters of support the application had received, pointing to the similar wording used in each.
This final argument saw criticism from Mr Payne, however, who said: “There have been a number of representations for the application and frankly whether the wording is the same or not is a complete red herring.
“The point is that somebody has seen that it is right and proper to spend the time — maybe using some wording that they agree with — to send a representation into the local authority to make their views known and the majority of people have expressed a positive approach to this application.
“It causes me a slight difficulty, because the representor puts themselves forward as a councillor representing those in his ward area, but unfortunately has only represented two [objectors] … not the eight [supporters].”
Following deliberation, the panel agreed to grant a licence with conditions. The full conditions are set to be published within five days of the hearing.
Sub-committee chairman Ann Blake-Coggins said: “The sub-committee considered that the application that had been put forward was sound and well-considered.
“The sub-committee took the view that the applicant was responsible and suitably experienced to manage licensable activities at the premises.
“The sub-committee considered the licensing objectives in light of the objections made by interested parties and where there was a potential for the objectives to be undermined the sub-committee believes sufficient conditions have been imposed to ensure the objectives were promoted.”
