A city centre convenience store is seeking permission to sell alcohol for home delivery throughout the early hours of the morning – a move that has prompted objections from councillors and environmental health officers over concerns about crime, public safety and the impact on children.
Members of Exeter City Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee are due to consider an application by Newham Stores (Exeter) Ltd to vary the premises licence for Newham Stores, 12-13 South Street, Exeter, at a hearing at the Guildhall.
The store currently holds a premises licence permitting the supply of alcohol for consumption off the premises from 6am to 2am, Monday to Sunday, with late night refreshment indoors from 11pm to 5am.
The proposed variation would allow the supply of alcohol for the full 24-hours the story is open.
The report states that the applicant “seeks to add the licensing activity of the sale of alcohol during the hours of 2am and 6am by home delivery only, operating through a third-party service provider.” This would be in addition to alcohol sales already permitted under the existing licence.
The premises has been operated by the applicant since September 2014 and is situated within the Cumulative Impact Zone, where there is a rebuttable presumption that applications likely to add to the existing cumulative impact will normally be refused or subject to limitations unless the applicant can demonstrate there will be no negative cumulative impact on the licensing objectives.
The operating schedule refers to conditions in the existing licence. The report notes that the applicant “has agreed to conditions set out in the representation made by the Environmental Health & Community Safety Manager of Exeter City Council” and has “confirmed there is no intention to restrict the sale of alcohol to orders containing groceries.”
Two city councillors have submitted representations objecting to the variation, citing concerns in relation to the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance and the protection of children from harm.
In one representation, a councillor wrote that extending off-sales between 2am and 6am is “likely to undermine the following Exeter City Council licensing objectives” and argued that the proposal would create “significant and predictable risks to community safety, particularly for women and children, and increases the likelihood of alcohol-related domestic abuse and night-time disorder.”
The representation adds: “We therefore request refusal of the application in full.”
A further objection has been received from the Environmental Health & Community Safety Manager. In the representation form, under the objective of protecting children from harm, it states: “The applicant has not stated how online sales will be controlled and has offered no further conditions in relation to online delivery services with accompanying alcohol sales. This raises concern that children may have access to these online sales and therefore suitable conditions are required to protect children from harm.”
Suggested additional conditions include that alcohol can only be delivered to a residential or business address and not to a public place, that full address details must be provided when placing an online order, and that delivery drivers request recognised photographic identification where the recipient appears under 25.
A decision will be made following the hearing.
