Residents’ crime fears over Armley shop’s bid for alcohol licence

Town Street News, at the upper end of the west Leeds suburb, has applied for a licence to sell booze from 7am to 11pm every day of the week.

But the bid has drawn huge opposition from the local community, with a petition bearing 35 signatures from neighbouring residents submitted to the city council in protest.

The matter is due to be decided at a licensing hearing at Civic Hall on Tuesday.

Armley Labour councillor Lou Cunningham has also opposed the application.

In a written objection published ahead of the hearing, she said: “Having more establishments selling alcohol from 7am is not a constructive action and sends out the wrong message for future developments of Armley.

“There is widespread community reporting that people do not always feel safe visiting Armley Town Street and the perceptions of anti-social behaviour associated with drug and alcohol use are widely documented.”

Another objector, whose name was anonymised by the council in the papers it released ahead of the hearing, said: “My wife just last week witnessed a drunken individual urinating in a park whilst taking my four year-old granddaughter for a morning walk at 8am.

“This appalls me to say this is the society we now reside in.

“Therefore I strongly object to the opening of another off-licence in our residential area.”

Another said: “There is no benefit at all from this shop receiving such a licence and would be best served as its original purpose as a newsagent, which is has been serving the local community for the past 30-plus years.”

In its application for the licence, the shop has promised to abide by a number of strict conditions.

These include having a working and continuous CCTV system, not selling single cans of beer or lager above 6.5 per cent in volume and conducting litter checks outside the premises.

The application form also said that the licence holder, “Will ensure that, during the hours of darkness, the frontage of the shop is adequately lit so as to provide safe access and egress to the premises by the public.”

Outlining how public nuisance would be prevented, the form added: “Prominent, clear and legible signage shall be displayed at all exits to the premises requesting the public to respect the needs of local residents and to leave the premises and the area quickly and quietly.”

Part of Armley lies within Leeds’ cumulative impact area, which makes it much harder for new off-licences or pubs to get alcohol licences from the city council.

However, the applicants said Town Street News lies outside this zone and is therefore not affected by these restrictions.

West Yorkshire Police has said it won’t oppose the application as long as a number of conditions are met, including one dictating that no posters or adverts referencing alcohol is displayed in the shop’s window or front.

A panel of three city councillors will have the final say on whether or not the licence will be granted.