Wine to go with that newspaper?
WH SMITH IN RAIL STATION APPROVED ALCOHOL
WH Smith has won the right to sell alcohol from its shop inside Newcastle Central Station.
Train passengers will be able to pick up a can of beer or bottle of wine for their journey from the branch at the railway station, after objections to the plans were dropped ahead of a hearing that was due to be held on Tuesday.
Newcastle City Council chiefs had opposed the scheme, arguing the area was already saturated with premises that sell alcohol and there would be “no positive effect for the city centre”.
But those concerns were withdrawn shortly before the matter was set to be brought before councillors on a licensing sub-committee this week.
The council’s licensing authority agreed to grant WH Smith’s application to sell alcohol with a set of strict conditions – including that the shop can sell a maximum of four cans or bottles per person before noon on weekends and staff must make customers aware of ‘dry trains’ where no alcohol is allowed.
The licence, which will allow alcohol sales between 9am and 8pm every day, also stipulates that no ‘super-strength’ cans of beer, lager or cider above 5.5% ABV can be sold and police can order the shop to remove any brand of drink
TO SELL
or size of bottle they deem unsuitable.
Ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, city public health director Eugene Milne had objected to WH Smith’s plans, saying the wider availability of alcohol risked increasing public nuisance and that there would be “no positive effect for the city centre”.
Jonathan Bryce, the council’s licensing manager, also raised concerns about the impact it would have on the city centre’s ‘special stress’ area where city bosses require “exceptional circumstances” to approve any new bars or off-licences.
Central Station has a Marks & Spencer and a Sainsbury’s, as well as the CentrAle bottle shop that sells local craft beers. But Mr Bryce confirmed both objections were withdrawn ahead of the hearing and said the newly agreed conditions would “ensure that there was no adverse impact on the licensing objectives”.