Gerald Lynch
A Craigieburn home bottle shop business has been given the go ahead to sell alcohol by Hume council, despite concerns from councillors and residents.
The applicant, who resides in Iron Bridge Road, applied for a Planning Permit for a Remote Seller’s Packaged Liquor Licence, which would allow them to distribute liquor from the garage of the dwelling.
In the application the business owner said they expected to make five deliveries from the location each day, using a private vehicle. All orders would be conducted online, with no access to the dwelling available to the public.
The applicant advised council that they will pick up the alcohol supplies on an ‘as needs’ basis and no bulk amount of alcohol would be kept on site.
Fourteen objections were received when the proposal was advertised.
Councillor Jarrod Bell endorsed the idea, saying it wouldn’t impact the community.
“This is effectively an opportunity for this person to run a business from home… with no direct sales of liquor from the house. No one will be showing up at the door saying ‘can I get a longneck mate’,” he said.
“The operating hours are within what is allowable… the anti-social impact that may come out of the consumption of this alcohol, will be happening at the point of delivery, not the point of purchase.”
However, the dwelling’s close proximity of several primary schools raised some concerns.
Cr Joseph Haweil questioned the fairness of using a garage as a business place, to avoid a planning permit.
“I have had hundreds of cases of our planning department enforcing very strictly… the change of use of garages without approval,” he said.
He said that for minor changes such as using a garage as a bedroom or lounge room that applications can take years and can cost thousands of dollars, so he questioned how it was allowed to be used as a storeroom for this home business.
“I understand that alcohol is not being sold at the location… but I also note a number of residents have written in and are not supportive of this,” he said.
“I do have very significant concerns.
