PLANS for a bottle shop on Young Street near the train station have been shot down.
The shop was planned for 88 Young Street, directly across the road from the Frankston train station entrance.
The proposal to sell liquor at the shop was put to Frankston councillors at their 9 March meeting. A permit was rejected with a 7-2 vote.
The proposal put to councillors read that liquor would have been sold at the shop from Monday to Sunday, 11am – 7.30pm.
A report prepared by Frankston Council officers read that “Victoria Police have objected to the application” because “the area attracts a large number of police calls for assistance with over half these calls for antisocial behaviour and over a quarter of these calls are for reports of assault. A key driver for this demand for police service is the misuse and abuse of alcohol.”
Cr Suzette Tayler said at the meeting “we have a report from the police telling us that they have a lot of issues at the station.”
“Over the last twenty years a lot of residents will remember the hardship we went through with Young Street, safety should be paramount,” she said.
Crs Steven and Liam Hughes both voted against the council officer’s recommendation to refuse a permit. Cr Steven Hughes said “pretty much every liquor permit is approved” and that rejecting this one would be “hypocritical”.
“The problem we have is we have a small business owner who is struggling to survive, online purchases are eating into his business,” he said.
Cr Nathan Conroy said “since we were elected we did not approve any bottle shops in the last four months. We have approved local businesses that have controlled dining experiences, and they’re not in Young Street next to the train station.”