The Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing Sub-Committee of Brent Council scheduled a meeting to discuss a new premises licence application. The application was for Shree Sai Krupa UK Ltd to sell alcohol at Sai Krupa Supermarket, a shop at Unit 4-5 Chequers House, 149 Ealing Road, Wembley. The committee was scheduled to consider the application in light of representations from the Licensing Authority and the police, and having regard to the council's licensing policy and the special rules applying to Cumulative Impact Zones¹.

Sai Krupa Supermarket - application for a new premises licence

Shree Sai Krupa UK Ltd, trading as Sai Krupa Supermarket, applied for a new premises licence to sell alcohol between 09:00 and 23:00, Monday to Sunday. The application form describes the premises as a convenience store that specialises in party supplies.

The application was made by Shree Sai Krupa UK Ltd, with Siddhi Mukeshbhai listed as the company director and Kettan Patel as the company secretary.

The report pack included representations from both the Licensing Authority and the police, objecting to the granting of the licence.

Licensing Authority Representation

The Licensing Authority's representation 3.4 Licensing Rep.pdf noted that the shop is located within a Cumulative Impact Zone.

The applicant acknowledges that the premises falls within the Ealing Road CIZ and recognises the Licensing Authority's stance regarding new premises licence applications within a CIZ, as set out within Brent Council's Statement of Licensing Policy 2025 – 2030.

The representation explains that in such zones there is a rebuttable presumption to refuse any new application, unless the applicant can demonstrate that this would not be the case.

The Licensing Authority noted that Kettan Patel, now acting as company secretary for Shree Sai Krupa UK Ltd, had previously submitted a similar application in an individual capacity, which was refused on 6 February 2025. The Licensing Authority representation 3.6 Annex B Licensing Authoritys Representation 10.01.2025_Redacted.pdf against the original application by Kettan Patel is included in the report pack. The Licensing Sub-Committee's decision notice for the refusal of the original application stated that:

The committee is not satisfied that the nature of the premises would be different from any other local off licenses and licensed premises, it will sell similar types of alcohol to the many other local off licenses. The Applicant has no experience of selling alcohol and has not yet received his personal licence, the proposed premises supervisor was not present at the hearing. The level of staffing proposed for the shop is low in the opinion of the committee.

The Licensing Authority's representation stated that, whilst the new application proposed more robust conditions and reduced hours, it questioned whether alcohol was secondary to the business model. It said that no compelling evidence had been presented to demonstrate that granting the application would not add to the cumulative impact in the area.

The Licensing Authority suggested that if the Sub-Committee was minded to grant the application, conditions should be imposed including:

• Operation of a CCTV system
• Maintenance of an incident log
• Staff training
• No sales of high strength beers, lagers, and ciders above 5.5% ABV²
• No sales of single cans or bottles of beer or cider
• Display of notices warning customers against drinking on the street
• A Challenge 25 policy³

Police Representation

The police representation from PC Brendon McInnes stated that the police were concerned with all four licensing objectives: the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance, and the protection of children from harm.

PC Brendon McInnes stated that the venue is located in the busiest part of Ealing Road, an area with a large amount of pedestrians and cars, and regular complaints to the police and councillors of street drinking, anti-social behaviour and littering. He stated that adding another off licence to this extremely busy stretch of the Ealing Road would only add to the complaints, crime, street drinking and anti-social behaviour.

PC Brendon McInnes noted that the application provided a list of proposed conditions and makes mention of the CIZ, but that the application does not go into any detail of any speciality theme, implying this is a standard off licence selling traditional beers, wines and spirits that are readily available along the Ealing Road and surrounding areas.

He summarised that allowing the application to progress, no matter how strict a list of conditions imposed, would only add to more alcohol on the streets, more street drinking, more anti-social behaviour and crime in the area.