Izzy Food Centre in HARROW – A Record Number of Objections
Ioana and Claudi are a lovely Romanian couple who’ve settled in London. They’ve owned about four shops in the last decade, and finally opened their new flagship Convenience Store in Kenton Road, Harrow. At the same time they applied for a Premises Licence, just like many other thousands of businesses across the capital. All pretty unremarkable stuff, but suddenly…
By the end of the 28 Day Consultation Period, the Licensing Authority had received 327 Objections to the grant of any alcohol licence to the shop as a result of a highly coordinated local campaign. We think that 327 Objections is a record – please email if you know of any case that has attracted a higher number. Seemingly the objectors claimed that area didn’t need another licensed premises and is overrun by alcohol-related Crime & Disorder.
All this resulted in a Hearing so large that they couldn’t fit everyone into the local Town Hall but had to find a bigger venue, with numerous Local Councillors speaking on behalf of the Objectors about what they feared might happen if ANY Alcohol Licence was granted.
The Licensing Guys provided the Committee with printouts of incidents reported to the Police in the vicinity of the shop, data for crime across the Borough – both showing that crime was not out of control in the area. Any prior problems in the area couldn’t be Ioana or Claudi’s fault because they’d sold no alcohol to anyone, and we produced a raft of conditions which had been agreed with all the Responsible Authorities across Harrow.
Duly the new Licence was granted, and the business was saved before it even got properly started. If you are facing similar problems, find the Licensing Guys online or on Facebook.