Erdington high street in Birmingham has been ‘transformed’ recently due to an initiative launched this year, police say
A generic picture of a sign for Erdington town centre(Image: Nick Wilkinson/Birmingham Live)
A popular retail chain has defended its plans for a new store as a Birmingham high street cracks down on anti-social behaviour.
A B&M store in Erdington ’s high street closed this month, with a new one set to open at the site of the old Co-op on the same street in just a few days time.
Ahead of the new store opening, the chain applied to extend its hours for the sale of alcohol, for consumption off the premises, from 7am until 11pm daily.
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But one objector said he was against the plans, saying the high street has a “drinking issue we are trying to get under control”.
A separate objection had been withdrawn by the time of a licensing meeting on Monday, June 16.
Efforts have been made recently to improve the Erdington area through a West Midlands Police initiative named Operation Fearless, which was launched by the force earlier this year.
Police have said funding, sourced from money seized from criminals, had been instrumental in transforming the area, adding residents reported feeling much safer due to increased police presence and enforcement activity.
At this week’s virtual licensing meeting, a solicitor representing B&M said the new store would not routinely be open for the proposed hours in the application.
Operation Fearless, a major initiative by West Midlands Police, launched in Erdington earlier this year(Image: Nick Wilkinson/Birmingham Live)
“The store will only be open generally from 8am in the morning until 7pm in the evening,” he said.
“But B&M always apply for these hours purely because at peak trading times, such as Christmas, they may want to open later than the hours they would normally trade.”
He also stressed there would not be two B&Ms in Erdington’s high street, telling the meeting that the closed store had been there for 10 years “without incident” and had held an alcohol license.
He went on to describe the B&M operation as “very finely tuned” and said it includes measures such as Challenge 25.
“We already have the store in Erdington anyway so no issues there and no evidence there is going to be anything that would undermine the licensing objectives,” he added.
The parties involved will be notified of the licensing sub-committee’s decision within five working days.