Objections over bid to sell alcohol from 7am-11pm at new Hartlepool convenience store

An initial application was submitted earlier this year to Hartlepool Borough Council for the currently empty property at 394 Catcote Road, which forms part of the Fens Shopping Centre.

The licensing proposal has been amended since then and now seeks to allow a new convenience store to sell alcohol between 7am and 11pm each day as part of 6am until midnight opening hours.

Submitted by Pahitharan Sribalarasa, the application states they are “well experienced locally in licensed retail” and the store will be named The Fens Local.

Yet three objections have been submitted from residents living nearby raising concerns such as the length of opening hours, potential nuisance and anti-social behaviour.

A submission has also been received by the licensing team at the council, highlighting how its policy states “licences for before 9am or after 10pm in residential areas will generally be refused”.

The proposal has therefore now been scheduled to go before the council’s licensing sub-committee on Monday, August 12, for a decision to be made.

The application states the store will join a retail group and “be a great addition and benefit the local customers with choice and cost”.

It adds a comprehensive CCTV system will be in place, along with a Challenge 25 policy, while a refusal record will be kept and staff training schemes will be carried out.

The applicant has also already agreed conditions for the premises licence with Cleveland Police.

The premises was last used as a phone shop named PhoneBox.