Agenda and minutes

The Chair introduced the Sub-Committee and welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Outline of the Application by the Licensing Officer

The Licensing Officer outlined the Application for a Premises Licence in as set out in the report in respect of Nisa Local, 45-49 Oulton Rise, Northampton. He summarised the objections that had been received and it was noted that a petition had also been submitted. He then explained the procedure for the hearing.

Application for the Premises Licence

Representing the Applicant, Mr Carr outlined the reasons for the application for a Premises License and informed Members that no representation had been made by any responsible authority, which included the Police. He explained that Mr Nimalathasan was a seasoned retailer with 11 years of experience and had been a personal license holder for the past 7 years. It was noted that the applicant had previously worked for Nisa in Birchfield Road (Northampton) and considered them to be a reputable company who had been pro-active with regards to fulfilling the Licensing Objectives. All Nisa staff received training every 3 months and in house training was provided to spot counterfeit ID as well as adhering to the ‘Challenge 25 policy’.

Mr Carr informed the Committee that the store would promote the 4 licensing objectives, which included the installation of 13 internal CCTV cameras and 3 external cameras and the DPS was fully aware of the prevention of harm to children and the consequences of selling to under age persons.

Questions to the Applicant

In response to a question from Councillor Duncan, Mr Carr confirmed that Nisa was a national chain with approximately 2,500 members and had been trading for 25 years and was part of the Costcutter group.

In response to questions asked by Councillor Wire, Mr Carr explained that there had been a failed test purchase at the Nisa store in Birchfield Road, but that this had occurred four years ago and there had since been no problems. It was explained that the store would employ 7 members of staff, 3 of whom would be personal license holders.

Mr Carr confirmed that the application had been for the sale of alcohol between the hours of 6am and 11pm as this was the proposed opening hours of the store.

The Solicitor commented that the sale of alcohol should be in line with the shop opening hours.

Representation by the Representors

Councillor Hallam, as the Ward Councillor for Parklands, confirmed that he was in attendance to represent the views of the Parklands Residents Association and other concerned residents. He informed the Committee that the main objection to the application was on the grounds that an off licence in the area would exacerbate Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) in the area, which had been problematic in the area for a considerable time. There had been a number of incidents involving Anti Social Behaviour which included proxy sales of alcohol at the Tesco store i.e. youths asking people going into the shop to but booze for them with threats  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.