THE police and some local people have objected to plans for a new convenience store selling alcohol and providing late-night refreshment in Merthyr Tydfil town centre, saying it would be “detrimental” to the community.
An application for a new premises licence from San Retailers Ltd for at 104 High Street would include opening hours and the sale of alcohol off the premises only between 6am and 2am from Monday to Sunday and late-night refreshment between 11pm and 2am from Monday to Sunday.
The application said that this is a new business venture as a general convenience store.
It said the site is currently empty and was previously a bar/nightclub and that it would be refurbished and operate as a convenience store selling a wide range of goods including newspapers, magazines, groceries, soft drinks, cigarettes, hot drinks, dairy goods, snacks, household goods and confectionery among other things.
The application said the applicant is an experienced retailer and personal licence holder who would like to include some alcohol sales to allow the shop to develop and provide a complete all-round convenience store.
The application said that the focus of the shop will be as a general convenience store with the proposed alcohol sales just being part of the overall business.
But South Wales Police has objected to the application saying licensing objectives will not be promoted.
The police has requested the sale of alcohol from 8am to 11.30pm each day, opening hours of 6am to 11.30pm and late night refreshment from 11pm to 11.30pm.
An amended time of 7am for the sale of alcohol to start has been proposed by the applicant but the police said this is not appropriate because the premises will be situated within a close proximity of a number of popular licensed premises that are busy within Merthyr’s night-time economy and daytime hours.
South Wales Police’s perception is that having an off-licence open to 2am would encourage an increase in alcohol consumption by people already under the influence, therefore, increasing the potential for crime and disorder and anti-social behaviour to occur.
The police also said the proposed time to supply alcohol will have an impact on anti-social behaviour to “loiter around” the location which will prevent intoxicated members of public dispersing from the area and that 104 High Street is located on a busy one-way street with the number of vehicles increasing which will cause issues for public safety and mitigation.
The police said that the premises is situated near establishments that house individuals with alcohol and substance dependencies and that there are numerous reports to the police for anti-social behaviour and crime and disorder linked to these establishments.
The police said there would be a high probability that the late opening times and the supply of alcohol times would encourage individuals to this premises to purchase alcohol or use proxy sales to purchase alcohol.
South Wales Police said there is also a service located within 200 metres of the premises which provides support for individuals struggling with alcohol and substance misuse and specifically supports people in the criminal justice system such as the probation service.
The police said that the late-night opening time and supply of alcohol time would have a detrimental effect on people looking to reduce their alcohol intake and would have an impact on their emotional, psychological and physiological well-being plus create vulnerability within the community and especially during night time economy hours.
Finally they said that an 8am start time will be in line with other off-licences within the area and this also includes off licence convenience stores managed by the applicant.
The police said further conversations have been had with the agent where the applicant still requested late-night refreshment with timings of 11pm to 2am.
The police said they had made their concerns known and maintained their stance on the shop to be open to the public until 11.30pm and will allow late night refreshment until 11.30pm.
A recommendation by the agent has been put forward that a serving hatch will be in operation to serve hot drinks and or hot food which will prevent members of the public entering the premises.
But South Wales Police said it objects to this due to people queuing / congregating outside the store adjacent to a one-way road on High street.
The police said: “Amongst there being potential for anti social behaviour and crime and disorder there are mitigation risks for intoxicated members of the public from passing vehicles.”
The police have also requested several conditions relating to CCTV, a challenge 25 scheme, an incident log, a refusals register, staff training and signage.
There have also been public objections to the application.
They said that there is an “oversaturation” of alcohol outlets and that adding another one would have “detrimental” effects.
They said the number of outlets have led to issues such as increased noise levels, public intoxication and more alcohol related disturbances.
Another objector said that the granting of the licence is likely to exacerbate crime and disorder in the area and that it will likely result in public nuisances such as noise and littering.
They also raised concern about the proximity of the premises to local residents and schools.
Another objector mentioned the potential increased risk to public safety due to the increased number of people grouping outside and drinking and raised concerns about the potential for proxy sales.
And another objector said they strongly believe that the “introduction of another alcohol outlet in our community would be detrimental to the overall health and safety of our residents.”
The council’s licensing committee will consider the application on Wednesday, August 7.
