A B&M store at a Glasgow retail park has been refused permission to sell booze due to health concerns over increasing the ease of access to alcohol.
The city’s health and social care partnership (HSCP) objected to B&M’s bid for a licence at the Helen Street shop as the surrounding is classed as an “overprovision” area.
A HSCP representative told Glasgow’s Licensing Board that the area is “within the top 10% of most deprived neighbourhoods in Scotland” and continues to be “almost double the Scottish rate in terms of its alcohol-related hospital stays”.
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Richard Williams, representing B&M, said alcohol purchases would be “skewed over a very large geographical area” as many people drive to the retail park.
But councillors on the board voted seven to two in favour of rejecting the application, as it was “inconsistent with licensing objectives of protecting and improving public health”.
The HSCP representative said there was “already substantial provision within the retail park and its surroundings” and there is a “continuing need to limit the access to alcohol within this locality”.
She said alcohol and drug recovery services had “received over 1,000 new referrals for support for the south locality team” in 2022, which includes Govan and Linthouse.
“We continue to be concerned about the number of off-sales licensed premises in the city, especially those in areas identified as adversely impacted by alcohol harms.
“The most deprived communities are adversely impacted, about eight times higher than that of our least deprived communities.”
Mr Williams said: “Just over a year ago, there was a swap so the B&M previously occupied what is now ALDI at the rear and B&M moved into the unit which was next to Asda.”
He added ALDI “stole our thunder” by already securing an alcohol licence. “People travel substantial distances to get to B&M stores,” he said.
“It’s quite simplistic, in my view, to attribute a licence and the effects of that licence purely on Govan, the immediate locality, because the alcohol is going to be dispersed over a very significant area.”
Mr Williams said B&M “do not advertise alcohol availability in any way, shape or form” and it is “ancillary” to the food offer.
“I don’t dispute that some people in Govan will purchase alcohol. If they don’t purchase it from B&M, they are not going to say I’m not having a drink tonight, they’ll go to Asda next door or ALDI.
He said granting a licence to ALDI had “not seen any detrimental impact on public health”.
The HSCP representative said: “It removes a safe environment for those wishing to shop in a store where alcohol is not available. This is particularly relevant for those who are managing alcohol use in recovery.”
She added the recovery community is “currently sharing maps with one another about how to navigate around the city to prevent triggering from knowing that alcohol can be purchased within certain premises”.
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