The music venue said approving another late-night shop selling alcohol was a ‘bad look’ and undermine £20m plans to improve the town
Mount Pleasant, Bilston(Image: Google Maps)
A new off-licence will be allowed to open in Bilston despite concerns from a neighbouring music venue it would lead to a rise in street-drinking.
City of Wolverhampton Council’s licensing committee approved plans by Kulwinder Singh for a licence to sell alcohol from Daily Stop and Off Licence, in Mount Pleasant, Bilston.
The new off-licence will open in a former printing shop next to the town’s famous Robin 2 music venue which was critical of Mr Singh’s plans over fears it would add to rising drinking and anti-social behaviour problems in Bilston town centre.
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City of Wolverhampton Council’s licensing committee said Bilston’s existing problems could not be attributed to the new shop as it had not opened yet.
The Robin’s Jack Heffernan said allowing the off-licence to open was a “bad look” and would undermine the £20m work the council was doing to improve the town.
“It’s difficult enough with already many cheap drinking establishments in and around Bilston,” he said at the licensing hearing on October 2.
“So we see issues with people turning up to the venue, turning up to the shows, drinking far too much alcohol.
“It’s not only unsafe for them, it’s unsafe for all of our patrons, it’s unsafe for our staff, it’s unsafe for the people in the local area.
“Bilston is a hotspot for drink related crimes and antisocial behavior.
“Again, running a live music venue late at night, we see all the issues […] we think this will just make it worse and further encourage it.”
Nick Semper, representing the shop’s owners at the hearing, said no evidence had been presented by any of those voicing concerns or objecting to the new off-licence.
But while the committee approved the new licence, it did cut the hours it could serve alcohol from between 7am and 11pm to 9am to 10pm.
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Bilston North councillor Linda Leach had raised concerns with the authority’s licensing department over the long hours saying she feared it would add to crime and anti-social behaviour problems in Bilston.
The licensing report said there are already 40 licensed premises within the Bilston North ward.
City of Wolverhampton Council’s licensing department and public health officers withdrew initial objections after requesting more information from Mr Singh and agreeing on banning the sale of high-strength alcohol at the shop.
A statement included with the application said: “Having recently taken over this vacant property, the premises will now benefit from a significant investment in the way of a full refit and modernisation.
“The applicant has many years experience of working in and operating retail convenience stores in the UK and places the highest priority on being there for customers when they need them most.
“This modest application seeks conservative hours for alcohol sales as part of a full range of general food and home produce available, reflecting the normal hours of operation with products available to purchase in store.”
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