A HILTON councillor has lodged an appeal against a decision to transfer a liquor licence from Hamilton Hill to the new Coles in Hilton, saying it sets a troubling precedent.

The director of liquor licensing approved the transfer of the license from the quietish Supafoods supermarket on Forrest Road to the Coles on the more bustling corner of Paget Street and South Street, back in January.

But councillor Ben Lawver’s appeal was only heard by the Liquor Commission a fortnight ago and he’s still waiting to hear when a decision will be handed down.

Cr Lawver says the approval included references to two previous decisions where a transfer was granted on the basis of convenience and one-stop shopping.

Telling the Herald those decisions “perked my ear”, he read through them and believes they were aimed more at big shopping centres rather than a stand-alone supermarket.

“So I was considering the expectation of someone; if you to a place where you’re pushing a trolley under cover to go visit multiple shops, it’s a little bit different than here,” he said.

“By that logic, which says you have a level of convenience for a 300-shop visit which is extended to a stand-alone supermarket – which this decision does – then basically in every neighbourhood now, it’s almost a requirement to have a liquor store.”

• Bemused councillor Ben Lawver said Coles kept denying this door exists.

Logic

Cr Lawver says using the same logic, it would be inconvenient for Hamilton Hill residents to lose their liquor store so their licence shouldn’t have been taken away.

“It’s right next to a grocer, the Supafoods, and in order for them to purchase take-away they have to drive a round trip of over three kilometres.

“In the end, there’ll five places to buy booze within a kilometre, up from the current four, where Hamilton Hill people now have to drive at least three kilometres because the public transport doesn’t really go where they need to.”

Cr Lawver said he was also left scratching his head by repeated references in the application and appeal response that there was no external door to the Liquorland, which has been operating since shortly after the transfer was approved.

But as he showed the Chook, there’s definitely a door opening onto Paget Street, with a sign on the day even noting it was only closed due to the weather.

Cr Lawver says he also raised security concerns about the store, particularly with the an external door, and says as part of the appeal process Coles had to provide him with its corporate policy on shoplifting.

He believes that contradicted what the company had told the liquor licensing director and formed part of the decision to grant the transfer.

by STEVE GRANT