the No Mill Road Tesco Campaign

The council has launched a licensing policy consultation, which will include a review of the Mill Road cumulative impact zone (and other CIZs). The Council’s website states that “We need to keep these policies under review to assess whether they are needed any longer or whether they need expanding”.

The CIZ is part of the framework which governs alcohol licensing applications in the area, and aims to control the alcohol-related issues on Mill Road. Tesco’s application was recently refused, and applications from other retailers would undoubtedly face similar opposition given the presence of the CIZ at present.

If you want to comment, all the relevant information is on the City Council’s website.

The deadline for comments is 5 September 2010.

Responses must be e-mailed to licensing@cambridge.gov.uk or posted to Cambridge City Council, PO Box 700, Cambridge CB1 0JH.

The Milly Card is Mill Road’s loyalty card scheme. The scheme is run by The Mill Road Society, an off-shoot of the No Mill Road Tesco Campaign.

The Milly Card loyalty scheme exists to encourage people to use the shops and other services available on Mill Road, Cambridge, and the area around Mill Road.

The purpose of the scheme is to allow local residents to show their suport for local traders and for Mill Road traders to have the opportunity to respond generously. This scheme will encourage business profits and goodwill to circulate within our community for the benefit of all who live here.

Membership costs £2 per person. This gives a MILLY membership card, which, when presented to participating traders, will entitile the holder to special offers and discounts. The list of offers is available on the Milly Card website.

Use the Application Form to apply for a Milly Card.

For full details of the scheme, go to the Milly Card website at www.millycard.org.

The Milly stall in Hope St Yard for two hours on 16th May saw lots of interest and new sign-ups.

As we reported a month ago on February 25th, Tesco lost their attempt to sell booze on Mill Road – an area which is now a Cumulative Impact Zone (which creates an assumption against the granting of new licenses).

We have today (16th March 2010) received the formal decision notice from the City Council. Their e-mail reads as below:

Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:55:33 +0000
From: licensing at cambridge.gov.uk
Subject: Tesco, 163/167 Mill Road – Appeal decision

To all persons who made representations to the above application for a premises licence.

We are pleased to tell you that the hearing of Tesco’s appeal against the Council’s refusal to grant a Premises Licence for the Mill Road store concluded on Thursday 25th February 2010 and the appeal was dismissed.  This means that Tesco Stores in Mill Road is unable to sell alcohol.

Please find attached a copy of the formal written decision which we have now received from the Magistrates Court.

Licensing Team
Environmental Services
Cambridge City Council
01223 457879

NEWS JUST IN: Tesco have LOST their attempt to sell booze on Mill Road – an area which is now a Cumulative Impact Zone (which creates an assumption against the granting of new licenses).

More details and commentary on this will follow in due course.

A member of the public has pointed out on his blog that Tesco have removed a key part of their alcohol policy, just before the Mill Road licensing hearing began.

The text that has been removed is:

“A flexible approach to licensing: We do not apply for licences in areas with known disorder issues and we review existing licences where evidence emerges that late-night alcohol sales are contributing to problem drinking.”

Below is the evidence of this sneaky change. Click on each screenshot below to see the full version and read the changed text.

Before: Tesco’s current Corporate Page promoting its “responsible” attitude to the sale of alcohol:

[Note that the yellow highlighting is merely present because Google's cache highlights the search term used when finding the page.]

After: The same page before it was quoted as evidence against Tesco in their recent court action to be allowed to sell alcohol in one of its Cambridge stores in an area “with known disorder issues”:

The licensing appeal is in progress.

Tesco have proposed various conditions as a way of trying to get a licence – including not advertising alcohol on their windows. (This is somewhat ironic given that Tesco were caught only last month advertising wine in their Mill Road window, which attracted the interest of the regulatory authorities …)

We will update on the outcome of the appeal when we have it.

We have now heard that the date of the licensing appeal is 23rd – 25th February, to be held at Cambridge Magistrates Court.

We understand there are 18 witnesses in total.

We cannot help point out that if the manager, Mr Capone, and his staff cannot get a simple thing like this right, what hope is there for the more sensitive task of ensuring that alcohol is only sold in a legal manner, a matter which is subject to examination in the Magistrates’ Court shortly…

raymond.brown@cambridge-news.co.uk

TESCO has been ordered to remove adverts for cheap wine from its shop in Cambridge’s Mill Road – because it has no alcohol licence.

Trading Standards officers launched an investigation after the adverts were displayed at the controversial Express store.

Campaigners accused Tesco chiefs of “contempt for the community” for plugging half-price Dino Sangiovese and Pinot Grigio wines, in an area where new alcohol licences are routinely opposed.

Trading Standards officers visited the store and spoke to manager Luke Capone, who agreed to take down the posters – which advertised deals available in other Tesco branches.

The Mill Road shop, which opened last August, was refused an alcohol licence after police objected because it falls within a ‘cumulative impact zone’ – which creates a presumption against giving out new licences.

Beverley Carpenter, co-ordinator of the No Mill Road Tesco campaign, said: “We are dismayed that Tesco has once again demonstrated complete insensitivity and lack of respect for the local community in posting advertisements for cheap alcohol in Mill Road.

“Their half-price offer on bottles of wine as seen in the window of their Express store on Mill Road is not only within a ‘cumulative impact zone’ but in a store that has been expressly refused permission to sell alcohol amid a huge public outcry and unprecedented publicity for any alcohol licence application in Cambridge.”

Supermarket bosses are appealing against the Cambridge City Council decision.

A spokesman for Cambridgeshire Trading Standards said: “I can confirm that we have received an inquiry from a member of the public, and we investigated the advertising used by Tesco in their Mill Road store.

“One of our officers visited the store and spoke to the manager who took down the adverts.”

Tesco’s appeal against the licence decision will be heard at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court later this month.

Cambridge Evening News, 1st February 2010

Why are Tesco advertising half-price wine on Mill Road, an area with a known with an alcohol problem, when they were refused a license to sell alcohol?

The CEN has published an article about a recent breakage of the window in Tesco’s window, as below.

For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to make clear that No Mill Road Tesco is not associated with this attack and that we deplore any form of violence. We deplore the way that the Cambridge Evening News has mixed two separate issues – this attack, and the alcohol licence appeal – in its article below. We were not approached for a comment, and the quotation given was from several months ago.

The article also failed to point out that the Londis store (opposite Tesco) was also attacked at the same time and that alcohol was stolen from their store.

Shop attacked as Tesco bids for drinks licence

raymond.brown@cambridge-news.co.uk

VANDALS have struck twice at Tesco in Mill Road, Cambridge.

A brick was thrown through the front window of the store, which opened despite a two-year fight by residents and other shops who said it would ruin the road’s character.

In the other attack, someone tried to put their foot through the window. No other shops in the area were targeted.

A Tesco spokeswoman said: “We are working with the police on this matter.”

Tesco is appealing against a decision not to give the store an alcohol licence for its Mill Road store. The chain sought a licence to sell alcohol from 10am-10pm seven days a week, but the area is a “cumulative impact zone”, which creates a presumption against giving out new alcohol licences.

Police objected to the original application, saying it could add to disorder in the area.

When the city council’s licensing sub-committee rejected the application for a drinks licence last year, it was greeted with loud applause from campaigners.

Ruth Deyermond, planning co-ordinator of the No Mill Road Tesco campaign, then hailed the decision “a victory for common sense and the community”.

The No Mill Road Tesco Campaign has vowed to fight Tesco’s appeal for a drinks licence. A spokeswoman said: “We will maintain the opposition we successfully put forward at the licensing committee.”

The case will be heard at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court at a later date.

Cambridge Evening News, 16th January 2010