New late-night shop at ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed’s former gym in Sheffield gets alcohol licence despite petition

Permission was granted at Sheffield City Council’s licensing sub-committee to Mrs Gamze Emin for GG Mila Supermarket at 715-717 Abbeydale Road to sell alcohol from 8am to 11pm.

The building, near the streets known locally as the Lakes, is the former gym of Sheffield boxer Prince Naseem Hamed and has also been used as a chemist’s shop and a shisha lounge.

More than 100 local residents signed a petition objecting to the plan on grounds including fears of anti-social behaviour and parking problems.

One resident, who was introduced as Julia, said there has been a lot of worry about the proposal locally.

She said: “A few of us are quite concerned about not being able to find anywhere to park but also the potential for accidents and anti-social behaviour. ”

People left feeling ‘unheard’

Julia said that the recent closure of Little London Road to traffic had added to parking problems. She also said that young people had started to gather in that area, leaving it feeling unsafe to walk on Little London Road at night.

She was also worried about premises selling alcohol backing on to her home, potentially meaning she could not enjoy her garden.

Julia said that local people had been left feeling ‘unheard’ over their objections to residential developments in the area.

Mrs Emin pointed out that there were no objections to her application from the police or authorities. She estimated that only 10 per cent of sales would be alcohol and offered to close at 9pm or 10pm.

She said they had never had to call police at the family’s other premises and told the committee: “If there’s crime and people hanging around and causing noise, that’s obviously going to affect my business as well and I wouldn’t want anyone drinking or damaging my building.”

She was urged by sub-committee chair Cllr Jayne Dunn to engage with local residents’ groups.

The application was approved as issues raised by objectors were outside the remit of the committee. Cllr Dunn said that if there were anti-social problems related to the premises, the committee has the power to revoke the licence.

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