An application to permit alcohol sales from a convenience outlet in Hastings has been submitted for review.
The Hastings Borough Council licensing panel is scheduled to examine the proposal on August 6. The request concerns the sale of alcohol for consumption off the premises at Forever Food and Wine, located in Harold Place.
The site previously held a licence to sell alcohol, but this was halted and relinquished after issues arose connected to its previous operators.
Ownership of the business has since transferred, and a fresh licence application has been filed by Hetalben Thakkar on behalf of V&K Private Limited.
Although V&K Private Limited has no link to the earlier operators, council members previously rejected an identical request from this company in January the previous year.
At that time, elected members stated in their formal ruling that they were worried about the potential for renewed alcohol-related criminal activity, disturbances, and anti-social conduct, along with corresponding public annoyance in the nearby area, made worse by alcohol purchased from a licensed outlet at this location.
Members noted that the establishment sits within the town’s Cumulative Impact Zone, a district where new permissions for alcohol retail are typically declined.
According to Mr Thakkar, the current submission has been designed to tackle the concerns raised previously.
In documentation provided with the request, Mr Thakkar explained that the company understands the worry that restoring an off-sales alcohol supply point might draw people who participate in street drinking or other anti-social behaviour. Mr Thakkar also stated that the company accepts typical licence conditions are inadequate for this particular location and that rigorous, forward-thinking, and steady oversight is necessary. The application aims not merely to gain authorisation to sell alcohol but to establish that the venue will function with greater accountability and supervision than what was previously experienced at this address.
The submission indicates that enhanced measures will comprise surveillance cameras and procedures for declining alcohol sales to minors or people who are intoxicated.
These procedures, according to the application, will be supervised by a seasoned and reliable management group.
The proposal has encountered objections from Sussex Police and the council’s licensing service. Both raised worries about restoring alcohol sales to the locality.
In comments provided, Inspector Simon Burroughs of Sussex Police Licensing explained that when the venue possessed a licence, individuals who drank on the streets would regularly visit this establishment to buy their alcohol and subsequently engage in disorderly conduct and public disturbance throughout the town centre and the neighbouring residential homes opposite the property, as well as the tunnel linking the town centre to the seaside. Inspector Burroughs also noted that since the venue stopped selling alcohol, the location that had previously attracted street drinkers now sees them no longer gathering there or creating the anti-social behaviour that frequently occurred when alcohol was being sold.
Officers from both the police and licensing authority also pointed to discrepancies in the original paperwork submitted by Mr Thakkar, together with mistakes regarding when public notices were published.
These issues were resolved after discussions took place, though representatives from both organisations maintained that the mistakes damage their trust in the management’s capabilities.
Elected members will listen to representations from all involved parties prior to reaching a verdict on the request.
If approved without amendments, the sought-after licence would permit off-premises alcohol sales from 10am until 9pm on Mondays through Saturdays, and between 10am and 8pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays.