Heron Foods withdraws Armley alcohol application in the middle of a meeting

An application for permission to sell alcohol was dramatically withdrawn in the middle of a meeting with council licensing chiefs this week.

The decision, made by Heron Foods, was made following passionate speeches from local councillors who claimed the plans could worsen alcohol-related crime in the area.

The supermarket chain had originally applied for permission to sell alcohol from its Town Street premises, despite existing council measures to limit retailers from selling alcohol in the area.

But, following speeches from local councillors Alison Lowe and Jim McKenna, as well as police and licensing officers, a meeting of Leeds City Council’s licensing sub-committee was cut short as the applicant suddenly withdrew the application.

What was the application for?

The shop has applied to sell alcohol from 8am-7pm on Monday to Saturday, and 10am-4pm on Sunday. It also stated there would be a CCTV system in place, as well as staff training and an incident register for antisocial behaviour.

Armley is a designated Cumulative Impact Policy (CIP) zone – an area in which it is more difficult to get permission to sell alcohol due to problems with drink-related antisocial behaviour.

What did the councillors say?

Coun Alison Lowe (Lab, Armley) told the meeting: “We don’t have millions of people in Armley falling around causing anti-social behaviour. We have small groups of people causing excessive nuisance on Town Street, but we have hundreds, even thousands, of individuals who are vulnerable, poor, ridden by debt, who are using alcohol as a crutch.

“They will go into whatever shop they can go to to feed their addiction – because they are addicted.

“There are 18 licensed premises on Town Street. It is ridiculous.

“I can walk from one end to the other end in five minutes. It is ridiculous that every other shop is a licensed premises. We do not need more.

“If [Heron Foods] really are being asked by their customers to sell alcohol, where are they? Where are their letters of support?

“Is this really about Heron wanting to increase their profit margins on the backs and the misery of vulnerable people in Armley? Or is it really that upstanding members of the community want to buy a bottle of wine on a Friday night? I ask the question, but I know the answer.

“Armley is one of the most deprived parts of the city – alcohol consumption is a blight in Armley – I ask the committee: please, please, please don’t give another licence to another premises.

“They said that they have got security, well I am a regular on Town Street, and they have only just put that security in there – surprise surprise – probably something to do with this application, I would say.

“The problems in Armley are intransigent – we are working to protect people, sometimes from themselves, I acknowledge that.

“People in Armley are sick to death of having Town Street blighted by people who are only interested in money and not in the lives and well-being of our citizens.”

Coun Jim McKenna (Lab, Armley) added: “We have made this same plea on several occasions, but we still see businesses pursue an alcohol licence in Armley.

“When I first read this application, I wondered why they suddenly wanted to sell alcohol in Armley.

“I think it’s bizarre that they have 280 stores and 57 have been granted. It’s almost like it’s provocative: ‘if we can get a sale of alcohol in Armley which is a CIP area with huge problems, we can get it anywhere’ – it’s almost like a frontal attack on our policies.

“It’s bizarre. I will say it again – bizarre – that they want to actually sell alcohol in Armley. If you can’t survive in Armley without selling alcohol, you don’t have much of a future there.

“There are lots of local people who have alcohol dependency problems. Not only do we not want to see any more alcohol outlets in Armley, we would like to see them reduced.

“The nearest place I know where you can buy a newspaper in Armley Town Street is Tesco, which is down on Stanningley Road. You can’t get a newspaper, but you can get a can of beer 24/7.

“A baby boy born today in Armley will have lived 14 years less than a baby boy born at the same time in Pudsey which is three miles down the road. Surely this brings home the problems of health in Armley.”