Cllr Mohammed Iqbal and Cllr Paul Wray (Labour, Hunslet & Riverside) have announced they have now asked officers at Leeds City Council to begin the process of applyig for Cumulative Impact Zone (CIZ) for the retail area between Dewsbury Road Community Hub and Library and Cross Flatts Park due to an increasing number of licensed premises applications.
While having several off-license premises provides healthy competition between retailers on price, the number of off-licenses on Dewsbury Road has now becoming a matter of deep concern to Cllrs Iqbal and Wray – meaning the benefits gained by customers on price are now being far outweighed by the impact to the wider community in terms of health and antisocial behaviour.
Cllr Mohammed Iqbal said:
“The availability of cheap alcohol is hampering the work of the Leeds Antisocial Behaviour Team and West Yorkshire Police to address issues in this area, and for the Public Health Team and other health partners to address alcoholic addiction and other chronic health issues as well.
“Sadly, the current legal framework to apply for a CIZ requires you to have a significant problem first, rather than having the proactive ability to apply for one in advance to prevent one developing. Something that needs to change on a national level as it hampers our ability to support the community.
“We’re now of the view that the area needs to be considered for a Cumulative Impact Zone to provide the Licensing Team with more powers to limit the number of future alcohol retailers in the area because the harm is clear for all to see, and we feel it now meet the legal test.”
Such a zone does not impact existing retailers and does not ban future ones outright – but it does mean any future applicants must be of the highest standard to be accepted. It is understood Council officer are now working on this request.
This post is based on a press release issued by Cllrs Mohammed Iqbal and Paul Wray
Photo: Jeremy Morton
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