Agenda item

The report of the Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory requests Member’s consideration on an application for the grant of a premises licence made by Joanne Salieh Ibrahim, for 152 Town Street, Armley, Leeds, LS12 3RF.

The report of the Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory requested the consideration of Members for an application for the grant of a premises licence made by Joanne Salieh Ibrahim, for 152 Town Street, Armley, Leeds, LS12 3RF.

In attendance for the meeting were:

·  Joanne Salieh Ibrahim – Applicant

·  Shoki Ali Omar – Designated Premises Supervisor

·  Nick Semper – Applicant’s Representative

·  Councillor Louisa Cunningham – Objector

·  Ibrar Khan – Objector

·  Nigel Harris – Objector

·  Amjid Razak – Objector

·  Adal Razak – Objector

·  William Cann – Observer

·  Phillip Clark - Observer

The Legal Officer outlined the procedure for the meeting.

The Licensing Officer presented the application providing the following information:

• The applicant’s name was Joanne Salieh Ibrahim.
• The proposed designated premises supervisor was Shoki Ali Omar.
• The application was for Sale of Alcohol, Monday to Sunday, 07:00 – 23:00 (for consumption off the premises). A redacted version of the application had been appended to the report at Appendix A. The applicant proposed to promote the licensing objectives by taking the steps identified in Section 18 of the application.
• A map identifying the location of the premises was attached at Appendix B of the submitted report.
• Representations had been received from West Yorkshire Police in their capacity as a responsible authority. Members were advised that representations can be negotiated prior to the hearing and in this instance the operating schedule had been amended to include the measures agreed with West Yorkshire Police. A copy of the representation and agreement was attached to the submitted report at Appendix C.
• The application had also attracted representations from other persons, including a representation from a Local Ward Councillor, 6 representations from members of the public and a petition containing thirty-five signatures, all of which oppose the application on the grounds of public nuisance and crime and disorder. Redacted copies of the representations were attached at Appendix D.
• A list of premises in the local area and their licensed hours and activities was provided at Appendix E of the report.

Mr Semper addressed the Licensing Sub Committee providing the following information:

• This is a small convenience store selling eastern and middle eastern foods.
• The applicant and her family live in Wakefield and currently have a business in Bradford which sells alcohol. It was noted that the business in Bradford had no issues. The applicant wishes to run this store as an off licence in Armley as it would be closer to their home in Wakefield and would assist with the children being dropped off and picked up from school. The store would be run by the applicant with her husband as the proposed DPS.
• It was noted that West Yorkshire Police had sent in a representation but with negotiation, the representation had been withdrawn. No other representations had been received from other responsible authorities.
• Mr Semper advised the Members that he had used the Leeds Observatory to gain evidence that the crime and anti-social behaviour in the area of the store was low and provided the statistics as evidence.
• Mr Semper recognised that parts of Armley had a Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) in place as addressed in Cllr Cunningham’s representation. However, on the map provided it indicated that the store fell outside the boundary for the CIA. In his opinion the fact there was a CIA in parts of Armley would assist his client not to sell to those intent on drinking in the street. It was not the intention of the applicant to sell alcohol to those in drink or who would cause anti-social behaviour through drink.
• He acknowledged that the national trend was for rising crime in Leeds, however, in this particular locality it was low.
• The applicant had put all safeguards in place with signage requested by West Yorkshire Police and there would be no selling of single cans or alcohol over 6.5% These conditions were based on responsible authority guidelines and had proved effective elsewhere.
• The intention of his client was to run a family business.

Responding to questions from the Members the Licensing Sub Committee were informed of the following:

·  The applicant wanted to run this store to sell eastern and middle eastern foods, so wished to change the nature of the store which had previously been a newsagent. The applicant was of the view that the Bradford store was too far away from Wakefield where they live and during rush hour it was difficult to run the store and take the children to school. It was the intention to sell the Bradford store and work together in the Armley store.

·  It was noted that the operating times of 7am until 11pm were standard operating times in Leeds for this type of store store. It was the view that the store is some distance away from the area covered by the CIA so there were no concerns. It was also the view that the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), which the premises resides within, was helpful as it depersonalised reasons for refusing to sell alcohol. It was the opinion that the applicant and the DPS would be able to recognise known street drinkers with the use of due diligence and criminal intelligence to assist them not to sell to those intent on drinking in the street. It was noted that the applicant would consider opening at 8am instead of 7am.

·  Mr Omar said that they had tried to locate a premises near to where they live in Wakefield, but had not been able to find anywhere that they would be able to make money from. Their store was different to the off licence next door as they would be selling European foods.  He had asked people in the area and there seemed to be a demand for this type of store. He had already bought the lease for the shop and had spent a lot of money on it. His shop in Bradford sells alcohol and has done for 6-7 years, he would recognise a drunk and would not sell alcohol to them.

Cllr Cunningham addressed the Sub Committee informing them that she was objecting to the application as a resident of Armley and on behalf of the residents who had visited her surgery to raise concerns about the application. She said that the CIA was in place on the main part of Armley Town Street and Public Health were working in Armley to address the issues of alcohol dependency in the area. She also said that it was not easy to recognise someone who was dependent on alcohol.

Cllr Cunningham acknowledged there was an off licence next door to the applicant’s premises and that there were a number of off licences operating in Armley, it was her view that Armley did not need another off licence. She explained that she had been asked to represent some of the residents as they were afraid of reprisals. Cllr Cunningham said that Armley needed more businesses but not businesses which would cause more issues in Armley and for the residents who live in Armley.

The owner of the off licence next door to the applicant’s premises said there was no need for another off licence in the area. He explained that due to the issues in Armley and the concerns raised by the residents, himself and some of the other businesses in the area now closed at 9pm although they did have a licence until 11pm. He said that he closed early for the benefit of the community, he could see no further benefit in opening another off licence in Armley.

A resident of Armley who had lived in the area for 40 years explained to the Sub Committee that some of the clubs and pubs in the area had closed down to try and address the issues in Armley. He went on to explain that recently a shop had opened after obtaining a licence and had issues with the drinkers in the area who had caused anti-social behaviour and crime. Some of the shops had decided to close at 9pm instead of 11pm at the suggestion of the residents to address the issues.

Another resident informed the Members that he was speaking on behalf of two residents, one of whom was scared due to the drinkers in the area and because one of the incidents concerned knife crime involving a relative. It was the view that the applicant did not know the area well as they did not live there, but there are a lot of incidents of anti-social behaviour and crime in this area. He was of the opinion that a new shop which had been given a licence had caused more problems in this part of Armley including robbery, stabbings and teenage drinking. The Members were told that the residents knew him well as his family has had the shop next door to the applicant’s for a number of years and they are customers. He also informed the Members that he helps out in the community. He said that more people had wanted to come to the meeting, but they were unable to bring everybody.

Another resident said that the crime statistics were not a true representation of the issues that this part of Armley have, as they were only looking at the last 12 months. However, the issues in Armley had been going on for 15+ years. He said that this area of Armley, known as little Scotland, due to the names of the streets, was blighted by crime. He works as a team leader in a call centre, but he also works with the young people of the area in his spare time organising cricket and other events. He explained that some of the young people come from broken homes due to their parents being dependent on alcohol and it was in his opinion that young people may copy their parents and start drinking. It was his view that since Covid more people had turned to drink and anti-social behaviour, and incidents in the area have become worse.

This resident went on to say that there are a number of shops on Town Street selling alcohol and people come in from outside the area to buy it and this is when issues arise. He said that the newly opened off licence had caused problems in the area which had hurt the residents who had worked with other off licences in the area to get them to close at 9pm.

Responding to questions from the Members the Sub Committee were informed of the following:

·  A lot of the crime in the area is unreported. It was recognised that much of the anti-social behaviour was caused by youths aged between 13-14 years old and 22-23 years old. Therefore, organisations in the area target these age groups to try and assist them to make better lives.

·  The Members were advised that 3 shops in the area have taken up the suggestion of closing at 9pm instead of 11pm.

·  The residents were not against the store opening for food stuff, only objecting to the licence for alcohol.

·  It was the opinion that the PSPO had not reduced crime in the area.

Mr Semper in summing up said that the Leeds Observatory provided statistics for the city. He said that no responsible authorities had objected to the premises licence and were assured that the premises could meet expectations to uphold the licensing objectives. The applicant had noted the 9pm closing time and if this premises licence was to be granted he would be happy to close at 9pm.

The Sub Committee considered all the information presented to them during the meeting and as part of the report.

RESOLVED – To refuse the premises licence.

The meeting concluded at 14:00