LSC.03/16
The Sub-Committee
considered a report that sought to determine an application for a
new Premises Licence at Morrisons
Petrol Filling Station, Totnes TQ9 5JR.
The Licensing
Specialist introduced the report and outlined the details of the
application as stated in the application form at Appendix A of the
presented agenda report. In particular,
the Licensing Specialist advised that the application sought
approval for the sale of alcohol for consumption off the premises
to be available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and for
the provision of late night refreshments Monday to Sunday from
23:00 to 05:00.
1.
Address by the Applicant’s
representative
The
representative outlined the rationale behind the application and,
in so doing, made particular reference to:
-
the reputation of Morrisons. Despite
having over 11 million customer transactions each week, the
representatives stressed that the organisation had never been prosecuted in
accordance with any offence relating to the Licensing Act
2003. Furthermore, Morrisons had never seen a review into an existing
licence being invoked by any local
authority;
-
the proposed operating hours. The
Sub-Committee was informed that, at this stage, the organisation was proposing to operate from 6.00am
to midnight. In addition, the
application was only seeking provision to open ‘24/7’
to prevent Morrisons from having to
submit an additional application in the event that the organisation should wish to increase its operating
hours;
-
the planning application. It was
noted that a planning application had also been submitted to the
local authority that sought to almost double in size the filling
station store. As a consequence, the
organisation was projecting that
customer footfall for convenient use would almost double whereas
fuel sales would remain fairly constant;
-
the store plans being well designed. In highlighting the proposed layout, the
representatives confirmed that full CCTV provision would be in
place. Whilst not a significant part of
the business, alcohol sales were nonetheless important and
assurances were given that spirits would only be available from
behind the sales counter;
-
members of staff. When questioned, the
representatives confirmed that there would never be fewer than two
members of staff on site during operating hours, with at least one
of these being a personal licence
holder. Furthermore, all staff members
undertook a rigorous training programme
and the organisation had adopted the
‘Challenge 25’ policy, the electronic refusal register
and till prompts;
-
the objections raised. To offset
the objections and concerns raised, the representatives highlighted
that:
o
there had been no
anti-social behaviour related
complaints ever raised at this site;
o
there was no evidence
to suggest that by being able to drive to the site would lead to an
increase in drink driving;
o
a condition would be
imposed whereby the sale of individual cans of alcohol would not be
allowed;
o
alcohol would be
displayed in the full view of the tills;
o
subject to inclusion
of the additional conditions, the Police had raised no
objections;
o
the organisation had a policy whereby ...
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