04 February
Mr MORRIS (Mornington) — During the Christmas‑New Year break a sign appeared in the window of a vacant shop in Mountain View Road, Mt Eliza, announcing an application for a packaged liquor licence.
The area is entirely residential and the premises were formerly a local convenience store. It is proposed that trading hours will extend until 11.00 p.m. on all evenings except Christmas Day and Good Friday.
The shop is completely unsuitable for the purpose as it is surrounded by houses on quiet residential streets, it is distant from a main thoroughfare and there is insufficient parking to deal with the level of traffic that will be generated. The site is zoned residential and retail premises are prohibited in the zone, which should finish the matter, except that convenience shops and food and drink premises are excluded.
The council is unlikely to support a permit, but the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has proven again and again that it is prepared to grant permits for applications which stretch the rules to the extreme.
This is of course a two‑stage process, with the liquor licence application coming before the town planning application. While the grounds for objection are restricted, the act makes it clear that opposition based on potential detriment to amenity or the likelihood of the misuse or abuse of alcohol are both valid reasons for the application to be refused. This application would fall at either hurdle.
There is clear evidence that poor planning controls have resulted in both excessive numbers of licensed premises and premises being located in inappropriate locations, a point made recently by senior police.
I urge the director of liquor licensing to reject this application, and I urge the minister to amend the act immediately to ban the sale of packaged liquor in residential areas.
Legislative Assembly 4 February 2010
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