Liquor store could double in size

The man behind a controversial Christchurch bottle store bid wants to double its size.

Long-time Harewood residents are fighting to stop an application by Samarth Rajeshkumar Limbachiya to sell alcohol from a small shopping centre at the corner of Trafford St and Harewood Rd.

But a hearing for the application, set down for Wednesday, will not go ahead until at least late May as Limbachiya last week amended his application to include 2A and 2B Trafford St, doubling the store’s size.

The move requires a new liquor license application and new hearing, but existing objections remain valid.

Colin Fussell and Bruce Tulloch have presented a petition against the licence to the Christchurch District Licensing Committee with 1100 signatures.

Fussell, whose bedroom windows were 50 metres from the shop’s frontage, was disappointed the hearing had been postponed.

‘‘Certainly we feel it shows up a flaw in how the public concern was addressed because … at short notice it was very hard to try to get some sort of notice to put to the public that in fact this would be the case,’’ he said.

He and Tulloch were still being approached by community members concerned about the plan to sell alcohol in the area.

Fussell believed the new bid to double the size of the licensed area was showing ‘‘probably what the intention was all the way along’’.

‘‘There’s no parking at the shops, it’s going to mean that they are looking to sell even more.

‘‘It’ll be an even bigger target for those basically seeking criminal activity or whatever and we’ve had a few incidents of that,’’ he said.

There had been ‘‘consistent’’ crime problems in Bishopdale.

Limbachiya was unable to be reached for comment.