‘Kirkstall residents should be able to live peacefully’: Concerns over alcohol delivery service

By David Spereall, local democracy reporter

Residents in Kirkstall have objected to a former delivery driver’s plans to ferry booze out to customers from his own home.

As previously reporter by WLD, Josh Miller has asked Leeds City Council for a licence to deliver alcohol directly to people’s front doors, from his house in Queenswood Drive.

But neighbours have lobbied against the plans, amid fears about clinking bottles and slamming car doors keeping them up at night.

Mr Miller, who plans to run the service between 9pm and 3am, has pledged to keep noise to a minimum.

A decision on whether or not to grant the licence rests with three Leeds councillors, who heard evidence at a public hearing today (Tuesday).

Mr Miller’s solicitor, Constanze Bell said:

“There’s a very good common sense reason why there won’t be any noise concerns, and that’s because he shares this property with his parents.

“They won’t tolerate any business that’s going to cause them any disturbance.

“This is a very busy road to begin with, with buses running until 1am and a taxi business operating four doors down.

“Other individuals on the street operate similarly. There’s a gentleman over the road who runs an airport pick-up service.”

Councillors were told Mr Miller had previously worked as a Hermes delivery drive and had received no complaints from neighbours about noise as he came and went from home.

She added he was used to being “courteous and considerate” to people nearby and that his vehicle’s boot had an automatic shutting system which makes it close softly.

More than 130 licences for alcohol home delivery services have been granted in Leeds since 2005, although the hearing was told only a minority of these businesses are run from residential addresses.

But Kirkstall councillor John Illingworth (Labour & Co-operative), who was one of eight objectors to the licence, suggested it would be “impossible” to run the business quietly.

He told the hearing:

“Late-night parties are the bane of local authority life in the Kirkstall, Headingley and Hyde Park areas of the city.

“There are complaints about frequent disturbances, noise and car doors slamming.

“It’s simply not the case that this is a noisy location. It is by day, but at night it’s tolerably quiet.”

Cllr Illingworth said he’d recently been told of a school pupil in the area who’d been kept awake the night before her exams because of a student party nextdoor.

“What protection is there for a child who’s trying to make her own way in the world and has to put up with that?” he added.

“Residents should be able to live their lives peacefully in the places they’ve made their homes.

“It’s difficult to see how you could do this quietly.”

The panel of three elected members told Mr Miller he’d be informed of their decision within five working days.