Off-licence gets permission to open in Ladybarn despite house party worries

An off-licence will be allowed to open in Ladybarn, Manchester despite concerns that it will exacerbate issues with student house parties.

The as-yet-unnamed convenience store on Mauldeth Road has been granted a licence to sell alcohol between 9am and 10pm every day of the week.

Applicant Andrew Izedomen, who owns another shop in the area, said alcohol will ‘only form around 15 per cent’ of the total goods available to customers.

Staff will be required to keep the area at the front of the shop clear of rubbish at the end of every working day as part of the conditions of the licence agreed by Manchester council.

But a licensing hearing was told on Monday that residents are going ‘above and beyond’ to keep the area clean amid ongoing problems with litter.

Sue Hare, a Fallowfield Community Guardian, said Ladybarn was a popular area for students as it was a ‘little less under the radar’ than neighbouring Fallowfield.

The meeting heard hundreds of students from both Manchester universities and even Salford University live in the area.

“We literally have to litter pick every day around there but alcohol does constitute a lot of litter and this is a big concern,” she said.

Concerns were also raised about off-licences being able to deliver goods to customers through mobile apps during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hare added: “It makes it very easy for people to get alcohol if they’re having a party, and house parties around here are very common.”

In the original application Izedomenhad sought to open at 7am and close at 11pm but this was later changed by the council’s licensing subcommittee.

The meeting heard that there were already two off-licences on the small section of Mauldeth Road, including a Co-op across the road which closes at 10pm.

Kattie Kincaid, chair of the South East Fallowfield Residents’ Group, said there were fears locally that long-term residents are being driven out and being replaced by students.

“We can see that it’s going to go the way of Withington and Fallowfield if we don’t try and stop it,” she said.

“I can also see that people like Sue and me standing up seems like we represent a very narrow group of people but actually we have people here from across the social strata.

“We really are a diverse neighbourhood, we don’t want to seem like we’re nimby, privileged people because that isn’t the story at all.”

But the premises licence application – amended with several conditions – was approved by the council’s licensing subcommittee with support from licensing officers.