Wolverhampton petrol garage made to wait over decision on 24/7 alcohol plans

Motor Fuel Group wants to change the terms of its licence at its petrol garage at the Morrisons store next to the Black Country Route in Bilston to allow alcohol to be sold 24/7.

But the move led to objections from the city’s public health officials as the petrol garage sits within a so-called ‘cumulative impact zone’ which places stricter restrictions on the sale of alcohol.

Wolverhampton is a “regional outlier” for alcohol-related harm and hospital admissions due to alcohol, according to the city’s public health department, while also having one of the highest alcohol-specific death rates in the UK.

Wolverhampton Council’s licensing committee met on Thursday (May 8) but was unable to reach a decision.

Motor Fuel Group had argued the ‘tiny’ garage would not add to any problems but public health officials were adamant that issues would grow because of the longer hours.

When the committee retired to deliberate it led to “substantial debate” over rewarding the licence, resulting in the council’s solicitor saying a decision would be made in writing to Motor Fuel Group within five days rather than verbally at the conclusion of the meeting as is the case in normal circumstances.

At the hearing, Robert Botkai, representing Motor Fuel Group, had argued that the amount of alcohol expected to be sold was minimal and the impact of the 24-hour plans would be “almost impossible to register.

“Just to put it into context, we are tiny,” he told the committee on Thursday. “The amount of alcohol in the store is very small.

“If you grant the licence today, we believe that the amount of alcohol sold throughout the night will also be very small so its impact on the city as a whole will be tiny and almost impossible to register.”

Mr Botkai said the amount of alcohol sold would be “minuscule” compared to sales from Morrisons.

Alcohol problems in Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton is a “regional outlier” for alcohol-related harm and hospital admissions due to alcohol, according to the city’s public health department, while also having one of the highest alcohol-specific death rates in the UK.

Bilston High Street, Church Street and the Morrisons supermarket also make up what the council calls a ‘cumulative impact zone’ because of the area’s higher crime and disorder rates and the ‘density’ of pubs, clubs, late-night venues and takeaways.

The council’s licensing policy, which was updated this year, puts the onus on applicants to prove how potentially longer licensing hours would not add to existing alcohol-fuelled issues in ‘problem areas’.

Applications would be refused in higher-risk ‘cumulative impact zones’ unless the applicant could prove the venue would not be a burden or add to existing alcohol-related problems.

The policy adds that off-licences should stick to ‘normal’ 11pm closing times – or earlier in ‘densely populated areas’ – unless there were “exceptional circumstances”, which the city’s public health officials said there were not in this case.

Mr Botkai said cumulative impact zones created an “iron curtain” where it was impossible to prove that opening a new venue or granting a licence would cause no issues whatsoever.

“I can’t see any evidence anywhere that the number of off-licences in an area is relevant to crime and disorder or public health,” he said.

He said the threat of theft was “irrelevant” as the garage’s doors would be locked and it was “very relevant” that West Midlands Police had not objected to the 24-hour application.

During the hearing, Councillor Jane Francis said figures had shown an increase in anti-social behaviour in the area.

“We still have that [cumulative impact] policy and until we don’t have that policy, we are potentially treating you differently to others,” she said.

A licence was granted in February which allowed the sale of alcohol from the garage from 6am to 11pm and late-night refreshments – hot and cold food and drink – from 11pm to 5am.