On whose behalf does Croydon Council operate? Residents or big business?
At the meeting of the licensing authority in the Town Hall tonight, the choice made was clear: Croydon Council does not listen to its residents.
Tesco had placed an application for an alcohol licence for their soon-to-open Express store in the Swan & Sugarloaf at South Croydon. Nothing unusual about that.
What was unusual was that the country’s biggest supermarket chain requested a licence to sell booze from 6am every day.
Local residents were the only people present to put forward objections. Not a single one of the nine Tory councillors from the affected wards – Croham, Fairfield and Waddon – bothered to attend to support their constituents.
With a constant problem with alcoholics hanging around the streets, many of whom are housed in a couple of nearby halfway house-type hostels, residents fear that having a Tesco flogging cheap booze from 6am will simply make the problem worse.
That was not good enough for the licensing panel, which comprised one Labour and two Conservative councillors: Carole Bonner, Terry Lenton and Crystal Palace’s finest steward, the ever-charming Tony Pearson
“What irresponsible behaviour by the council and Tesco,” one of the objectors who attended the meeting told Inside Croydon.
“No other shop down there can sell alcohol before 8am. That is not good, but who apart from our local addicts is going to want to buy alcohol at 6am?
“The Tesco lawyer just rambled on about under-age drinking. But that isn’t the issue. He needn’t have bothered, because our council didn’t even try to limit the hours to after 8am.”
Croydon Council’s motto: “Proud to Serve… booze from 6am”.
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Croydon council and tesco are greedy just like most other councils….profit before people !
Residents elect the wrong councillors and then complain about their totally irresponsible and reprehensible behaviour.
The subservient attitude towards councillors I witness on a regular basis makes me sick.
Councillors are elected to serve and should be removed, (they are not volunteers but are remunerated, enjoy free parking and many other freebies!), if they do not want to serve.
Now as it ‘appens working as I do antisocial hours only yesterday i was refused booze by sainsburys in the early hours of the morning. Has it never struck any of you as wrong to expct all of us who dont work9to 5 to live as you do? I noticed during the games wre were all supposed to work staggered hours yet at the same time the offies and pubs all still closed at 11 like it was still world war one. Double standards by the political class?