Ongoing problems with street drinking in Armley have scuppered a local shopowner’s plans to sell alcohol.
Ruslanas Zirnikas, who runs Lietuvaite Shop on Branch Road, had asked Leeds City Council for a licence to sell alcohol between 10am and 8pm every day.
Mr Zirnikas had insisted he wouldn’t sell single cans in a bid to deter street drinkers, and would charge a minimum price of £7.96 for a four-pack. He also said he’d pause alcohol sales between 3pm and 4pm to mitigate the impact on children walking home from school, but that he needed the licence to make his business viable.
But a public hearing earlier this month saw public health officials, police and the district’s three local councillors object to the application, along with Rachel Reeves MP. The council’s licensing sub committee was told that Armley is one of the worst areas of the city for drink-related anti-social behaviour.
Armley town centre has a cumulative impact policy in place, which makes it difficult for new applicants to successfully apply for a licence to sell alcohol.
Councillors on the sub committee deliberated in private after the hearing and discussed how the application would fit into the community of Armley and people’s need to feel safe.
They looked at the application in relation to the licensing objectives and were of the view that the application failed on all four objectives and refused Mr Zirnikas’s application.
The council’s decision, which was published today, and all other background papers, can be read in full here.
