New Northminster mini mart granted licence to sell alcohol

A meeting of Peterborough City Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee on Friday (April 24) considered whether a premises licence should be awarded to the owner of the Londis Indigo, which is set to open at the newly constructed Unit B of 26 Northminster.

In his initial application, the shop’s owner, Muthukumar Radhakrishnan requested a licence that would cover alcohol for off-site consumption around-the-clock, and provide late-night refreshment from 11pm to 5am, every day of the week.

However, this request caused anxiety among some local residents, two of whom submitted formal objections to the application.

The objections highlighted fears that the Londis shop’s licence to sell alcohol around-the-clock would lead to potential public nuisance issues, such as noise from customers gathering outside late at night, and see increases in antisocial behaviour.

In response to these concerns, Cambridgeshire Constabulary stepped in to mediate with the applicant. This resulted in a number of proposed amendments being added to the initial application in order to mitigate any potential risks relating to associated public nuisance and disorder.

Mr Radhakrishnan attended the Licensing Sub-Committee meeting at Sand Martin House. He was joined by his representative, Patrick Burke of PMB Licensing, who spoke on his behalf:

Mr Burke explained to committee members why the police sought to mediate:

“The police’s concerns were that, only 30 feet from this premises, is a nightclub that is licensed to 3am,” he said, “Which is why we’ve agreed to reduce the hours.”

He added: “There were no other objections from other responsible authorities.”

Committee member Councillor Chris Wiggin (Lib Dems) asked Mr Burke about the issue of littering:

“Litter is one of the concerns raised in the objections,” he began, “how many bins would be seen to be adequate?”

“It’s very difficult to put a number on that until the business is up and running,” Mr Burke acknowledged.

“But whatever number he [Mr Radhakrishnan] will start off with, he will add to, if needed.”

The mediation resulted in the applicant revising his shop’s proposed vending hours for the sale of alcohol for off-site consumption to 6am to 2am, Monday to Sunday.

In addition, The Londis Indigo would also enforce restrictions on selling single cans or high-strength alcohol above 6.5% ABV (except craft beers), and maintain a requirement to label all alcohol sold.

With these revisions agreed and in place, the committee deliberated and eventually granted the licence.