THE SITE of a former motorcycle and bike shop in Whitley will become a convenience store despite concern from neighbours.
Reading Borough Council’s licensing committee has approved a plan to convert the empty unit.
Residents say there is a ‘concentration’ of off licences, leading to anti-social behaviour and traffic build-up in the area.
Earlier this year, an application was submitted for a licence to sell alcohol for the proposed Whitley Superstore, which could open on the site of the Smiths motorbike shop and MoT centre in Whitley Wood Lane.
Ghanshyam Patel, the owner of Niki Convenience Store located directly opposite was one of the objectors, saying there is an ‘oversaturation’ of places selling alcohol in Whitley.
He submitted a petition signed by 162 neighbours opposing the licence application.
Cllr Micky Leng (Labour, Whitley) urged the committee to recognise the strength of feeling among neighbours.
“We’ve got a lot of places where you can get alcohol, that’s a fact, there is a saturation point,” he said, adding that the petitions against the licence application highlighted the strength of feeling among neighbours.
Neighbours were also represented by David Dadds, who questioned whether Whitley Superstore’s applicant, Pajan Singh Kaneja, knew the four licensing objectives: to protect public safety, prevent crime and disorder, prevent public nuisance, and protect children from harm.
Mr Kaneja did, and his representative, Surendra Panchal, added that Mr Kaneja had years of experience operating a Costcutter store.
Mr Panchal said his client was happy to consider conditions controlling operations at the proposed Whitley Superstore.
He said: “We do need to work with the neighbours because they will be using the shop.”
Atul Patel, a neighbour present at the meeting, pointed out there are no car parking spaces at the front of the Whitley Wood Lane building. It was agreed that drivers could park at the rear where there is space for 20 cars.
The licence was granted, and the store can serve alcohol from 7am to 11pm daily. However, it cannot sell alcohol in single cans or bottles, or miniatures under 200ml. A personal licence holder must be at the store during operation times, and two CCTV cameras must be established outside of the store.
The decision was made by Cllrs Paul Woodward (Labour, Church), Clarence Mitchell (Conservative, Emmer Green) and Sue Kitchingham (Labour, Caversham Heights) on Thursday, July 20.
Mr Dadds, a Conservative councillor representing Billericay East on Basildon Council, made a suggestion that bottles and cans should have stickers placed on them was rejected by Cllr Paul Woodward, the chair of the committee, because the suggested condition had not been raised prior to the meeting.
