Ealing Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee approved the plans on Wednesday, July 8
A new off-licence will open in a residential area in Acton despite antisocial behaviour concerns from one resident.
Ealing Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee granted Bajaj Food & Wine a licence to sell booze at its meeting on Wednesday, July 8.
The premises is currently a vacant unit located at 9 Kathleen Avenue in Acton. The shop will be open between 9am and 11pm Monday through Thursday, 10am until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, and 11am until 11pm on Sundays.
Under Ealing Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy, the accepted “core hours” for off-licences in Local Neighbourhood Areas normally conclude at 11:30pm on weekends. As the application exceeded these core hours, the council said it would be considered on its own merits.
Michelle Doyle raised concerns about the application and urged the committee to reject the application. In her written statement, she said: “This is a predominantly residential area, and residents already experience issues relating to antisocial behaviour, noise, littering, and disturbance… particularly during evening hours.
“Granting a licence for the sale of alcohol, especially with proposed hours extending until 23:00 during the week and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, is likely to worsen these existing problems. There is concern that the availability of alcohol late into the evening would encourage loitering, public drinking, noise nuisance, and further antisocial behaviour in close proximity to family homes.
“The proposed operating hours are not appropriate for such a residential location and risk negatively affecting the quiet enjoyment, safety, and wellbeing of local residents… There are already numerous premises in the surrounding Acton and W3 area licensed to sell alcohol, including convenience stores, supermarkets, petrol stations and dedicated off-licences operating within a relatively short distance of Kathleen Avenue.”
No other objections were raised by residents or any relevant authorities such as the Metropolitan Police.
To prevent crime and disorder caused by street drinking, the applicant’s conditions state there must be no stock or sale of high strength canned beer, lager or cider (above 6.0% ABV) and no miniatures to be sold at the premises. The applicant also promises that “no disposable cups, e.g. plastic, paper, etc, are to be kept behind the till area and alcohol is not to be decanted into them for customers to take away”.
Returning the decision, Councillor Praveen Anand said: “The sub-committee considered the written objection from the interested party including concerns regarding antisocial behaviour, public nuisance, public drinking, littering, disturbance, the residential nature of the area.. It is accepted that the resident had genuine concerns about the issues in the wider locality.
“However, the sub-committee was not satisfied that the evidence demonstrated that granting the application would be likely to undermine the licensing objectives. It noted that the premises is currently vacant, there is no evidence of poor management by the applicant, and the antisocial behaviour relied upon was not related to either the premises of licensing activities.”
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