Eastbourne convenience store gets alcohol licence

On Monday (October 2), an Eastbourne Borough Council licensing panel approved an application for an alcohol premises licence at 58 Grove Road.

The application, from T & F Food Centre Limited, had been seeking permission for off-sales of alcohol between 8am and 11pm, seven days a week.

The hearing had been called in light of an objection from an unnamed local resident. In their objection, which is heavily-redacted in public papers, the resident argues there are already too many licensed shops in Grove Road and another would exacerbate issues of noise and antisocial behaviour.

No other objections had been raised, either by residents or responsible authorities, such as Sussex Police.

Councillors were also unconvinced by the concerns. One panel member, Cllr Colin Belsey (Con, Ratton) said: “I sometimes think that people who want to complain about an application go over the top sometimes. There are restaurants in Grove Road that will be open as late as or even later than this establishment wants to be.

“So some of the things that are written sometimes do worry me. People use it to have a moan, if you know what I mean just object for the sake of objecting.

“This is going to be no worse than other establishments in the road.”

While it had raised no concerns, Sussex Police did request the applicant to abide by a number of standard conditions. These conditions, which were all accepted by the applicant, included: CCTV; staff training; and a limit on the strength of beer, lager and ciders to be sold at the premises.

Police had initially also requested a condition requiring the store to keep outside areas tidy, but this was withdrawn as it was deemed unnecessary.

Conditions were further modified by the committee, but details of these modifications have yet to be published.