Former Sunderland Booze Buster branch to become off licence once more, despite concerns

A convenience store has been granted a licence to sell alcohol despite concerns over potential crime, antisocial behaviour and traffic issues.

It comes after a licensing application was submitted to Sunderland City Council in October last year for 138 Newcastle Road, which was formerly home to shops including Booze Buster and Simply Food and Drinks.

Applicant Sankar Navaranjan was initially looking to secure a premises licence to sell alcohol Monday to Saturday from 7am until 3am as part of plans to run a convenience store from the site.

However, after that application saw 105 objections, including a petition with 71 signatures, revised proposals were submitted seeking to sell alcohol from 7am until 11pm Monday to Saturday, and 8am until 10pm on Sunday.

Around six objections remained following the alterations, including from councillor Michael Hartnack, who represents the Fulwell ward where the site is located.

Concerns raised were around the levels of crime and antisocial behaviour when a shop previously operated from the premises, and that granting the licence for the site to sell alcohol could see the issues return.

This led to the application going before the city council’s licensing sub-committee (on Wednesday, March 27) for a decision to be made.

After hearing concerns from objectors and the case from the applicant, councillors on the committee ultimately decided to grant the licensing application, however at reduced hours.

The shop will only be able to sell alcohol from 7am until 10pm Monday to Saturday, one hour less than the 11pm deadline applied for, while the 8am until 10pm Sunday hours were allowed.

Councillors on the committee noted this will bring the shop in line with similar outlets, while they added other conditions will also be in place to help prevent issues, along with checks on the shop from council officers.

Speaking at the meeting, a representative on behalf of Mr Navaranjan said the alcohol sales will just be a part of the shop’s offer, with all types of convenience products sold including fresh and frozen food, toiletries, household goods and newspapers.

They added: “It’s a new shop, it was a closed-down shop, and we’re going to start something new.

“The alcohol is only going to be in limited places, and it’s just going to be part of the shop.

“It’s a convenience store and we’d like to have everything in it, so when a customer walks in they can have a variety of items in a basket like egg, milk, bread, if they want beer or wine or anything like that they can have that as well.”

The meeting heard the shop will also provide deliveries of goods, including alcohol, through Just Eat and Uber Eats, during the hours licensed.

Other services will also be offered in-store to customers such as the ability to pay bills and buy lottery tickets.

The application added a dedicated licence holder will be on-site at all times, and a Challenge 25 policy, incident book and CCTV will be in place.

The committee heard Northumbria Police objected to the initial plans for an alcohol licence until 3am.

However, upon the revised application featuring reduced hours and conditions being received, they dropped their concerns and did therefore not attend the meeting.

Nevertheless, Conservative Fulwell ward representative Cllr Hartnack and four residents who live nearby all spoke out and objected to the plans at the meeting.

Cllr Hartnack, a former senior police officer who served as deputy area commander for Sunderland, said residents previously experienced “sheer bedlam” when the site was open as a shop selling alcohol.

He added it was the “subject of very high levels of crime, including antisocial behaviour, serious assaults outside the premises, litter and drunken youths hanging around until the early hours of the morning”.

He continued: “These incidents live long in the memory of those who live in the area and it’s right that residents are concerned about how this new outlet will operate and the controls in place to prevent similar such incidents in the future.

“The conclusion can easily be drawn, and I think quite rightly drawn, that it’s the attraction of premises such as this where there is the sale of alcohol being quite prevalent, which brings with it crime and antisocial behaviour.”

Residents speaking at the meeting raised concerns over the shop’s close proximity to Monkwearmouth Hospital, a mental health facility also located on Newcastle Road, and the adverse impacts this would have on the site and the community nearby.

Worries were also voiced around the licence leading to traffic and highways issues such as parking problems, noise and antisocial driving, including from drivers carrying out deliveries to and from the shop.

Council legal officers stressed in making their decision the committee “can’t rely on suspicion and speculation based on what’s gone before” and they must take into account the applicant’s plans to minimise concerns.

Speaking after the meeting in response to the licensing decision, Cllr Hartnack said: “I’m disappointed for residents that the council made the decision to grant a licence to this applicant.

“Of particular concern is the selling of alcohol via Uber sales and the disruption this will have on residents in what is a quite densely populated residential area.”