A NEW DEVELOPMENT in Garnant was granted a licence to sell alcohol in spite of a number of objections from the local community.
The owners of the One Stop, which will open on the site of Arcade Terrace on Cwmamman Road, applied for a licence which would enable them to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises between 6am and 11pm seven days a week.
The application was approved in principle by the housing and public protection department of Carmarthenshire County Council, although it was noted that the original planning consent only allowed the premises to open until 6pm on public holidays.
Given that the development will be a mixture of commercial and residential premises, five conditions for approval were suggested by the department for Public Protection. These included restricting the hours when deliveries could take place to those when the store would be open, ensuring that overnight noise in premises above the shop stayed at an acceptable level, and ensuring that noise and artificial light from the development was not at an obtrusive level for those living nearby.
Dyfed Powys Police also made their support for the licence application conditional on the store having full CCTV coverage, which would be saved for 28 days and made readily available to officers.
The application received a number of complaints from residents. One local business owner suggested that, given that another premises in the area had recently been granted a licence, ‘having so many licences premises in a built up area is asking for trouble.’
Cwmamman Community Councillor Emyr Jenkins also objected to the development on the grounds that increased footfall and traffic, especially people shopping for alcohol late at night, would ‘impinge on residents’ basic human right to a quality private life.
Cllr Jenkins also pointed out that the development was near a park which he claimed already had issues with anti-social behaviour, primarily alcohol abuse, among ‘unsupervised youths,’ and criticised the proposed hours of the licence.
Concerns were also raised by residents about the potential for anti-social behaviour, vandalism and litter.
Following a site visit by the Licensing Sub-Committee on April 5, the decision was taken to grant the licence, subject to the conditions agreed with the police, and an additional condition regarding the control of litter.
The views of the police and the Public Health Authority were also taken into account, as were the lack of representations from other authorities.
The Sub Committee found the evidence of the local residents to be ‘credible and genuine’, However, it was satisfied that the issues identified would be appropriately addressed by the control measures set out in the operating schedule and the additional conditions agreed between the applicant and the police.
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