The Royal Borough of Greenwich Licensing Sub-Committee C met to discuss an application to vary the premises licence for Santhiya Convenience Store, 9 Brewery Road, Plumstead. The committee heard arguments for and against the variation, which included extending the hours for off-licence alcohol sales and adding late-night refreshment services. Ultimately, the sub-committee approved a compromise, granting the licence with amended hours and additional conditions.

Santhiya Convenience Store Licence Application

The main item under consideration was an application by Rasa Logan for a variation of the premises licence for Santhiya Convenience Store, located at 9 Brewery Road, Plumstead, SE18 7PS. The application sought to:

• Extend the hours for off-licence alcohol sales to 06:00 to 01:30 daily (currently 09:00 to 22:00).
• Add late-night refreshment (LNR) services, specifically vended coffee and heated snacks, from 23:00 to 01:30 daily.

Steve Cox, licensing officer, presented a summary of the application, noting that the original application had sought 24-hour off-sales but was revised following discussions with the applicant's agent, Suresh Kanabadi. He also highlighted the history of the premises, including past issues with street drinkers in 2016-2017, but noted no formal visits had been necessary since then.

Representations and Concerns

Representations were received from:

• Greenwich Police Licensing: Objected to the extended hours, citing concerns about crime and disorder and public nuisance. They initially requested 23 conditions to be added to the licence.
• RBG Public Health: Did not support the extended terminal hour for alcohol sales, citing concerns about antisocial behaviour and alcohol-related harm.
• Environmental Health (Community Safety & Integrated Enforcement): Objected to the extended hours, citing concerns about public nuisance.

Daniel Bygrave from environmental health said:

I believe that the times that were initially suggested, chapter 130 was too late, um, for a, for a quite heavily residential area, especially as there are, um, premises that are across the road from, from this.

PC Sam Bobb from the police said that granting the licence as requested could cause neighbouring premises to want to apply for later hours, and then we'll get potentially an influx of those applications coming through.

Applicant's Arguments

Suresh Kanabadi, representing the applicant, argued that the premises had been operating responsibly for 15 years with no recent issues. He stated that a neighbouring premises had recently been granted a licence to sell alcohol, which had significantly impacted the store's business. He also pointed out that another convenience store in a residential area had been granted a 24-hour licence.

Kanabadi initially stated that an agreement had been reached with the police for the premises to be able to sell alcohol from 8am to midnight, but later clarified that there had been a communication error and that the police had only agreed to 11pm.

Committee Decision

After hearing all the evidence, the sub-committee resolved to grant the variation with the following conditions:

• Hours for Off-Licence Alcohol Sales: 08:00 to 23:00 daily.
• Hours for Late Night Refreshment: 23:00 to 00:00 daily.

The sub-committee also imposed a condition preventing the sale of beers, lagers and ciders with an alcohol content of 6.5% ABV and above, except for brands agreed with the Police and Licensing Authority.

The decision notice stated that the sub-committee had taken into account the representations made and the need to promote the licensing objectives¹.