Senior Leamington councillor apologises after she 'forgot' to refresh licensing arguments

Cabinet member Councillor Jessica Harrison (Lab, Leamington Clarendon), Warwick District Council’s portfolio holder for transformation, put forward representations against alcohol sales being allowed as part of a new convenience store in the same building as the Post Office on Bath Street, Leamington.

Her initial arguments centred around the need for another off licence in that area and the impact on businesses that already sell alcohol.

Applicants DVA UK Limited – Dipakkumar Patel, Ankit Patel and Viral Doshi – had initially applied for 24-hour opening but revised that to 5am until midnight each day.

That led Cllr Harrison to speak with objectors again but her speech to the licensing panel contained new material that she did not put forward in a second submission.

She said she was representing “deeply concerned” Post Office staff and local residents, referring to the Licensing Act’s aims of preventing public nuisance and consideration of the impact on local residents.

“The last thing the staff and community wants is the Post Office to be a hotspot for any issues,” she said.

“The Act does not directly address competition and that’s fine but it is more the cumulative impact of adding another licence to an already saturated area.”

Gill Sherratt, representing DVA, said: “You have brought up quite a bit that is not in your representation here, (things) that I am hearing for the first time.

“This (written) objection is made on behalf of residents, you haven’t referenced any Post Office staff.

“I am a little confused as to why you would say everything you have said today about cumulative impact and not put it in your written representation. You do understand we can only consider this (the written statement) today.”

Cllr Harrison replied: “I will admit, I forgot to put this in once they did the revised application. I went back to everyone (objectors) to say they had revised the hours and (check whether) everyone was content.”

The council’s legal officer Alaa Cronin intervened. “Because it is new information that wasn’t in the written representation, it can only be considered by the panel if all the parties agree,” she said.

Ms Sherratt replied: “No, I absolutely don’t. Nothing should come as a surprise to me today and it has. I will be making my submissions on that.”

Ms Cronin told the panel of three district councillors charged with making the call that they could not consider Cllr Harrison’s new submissions.

Cllr Harrison added: “I apologise. I thought I had sent it so I apologise to the committee and the applicant, that is my bad.”

Concluding, Ms Sherratt said: “This is an evidence-based decision, it is not based on personal opinion.

“The application is robust. You are not dealing with people who have not done this before.

"For whatever reason, and I might be minded to agree on a personal level about the hours they want to open, they want to open at 5 o’clock in the morning. They know what they are doing and the police and environmental health tell you that the licensing objectives are upheld.”

The licence was granted.