Criticism has been voiced over Oxford City Council’s refusal to allow Tesco to sell alcohol at a planned new Express store in the centre of town.
The supermarket giant has recently been granted permission to set up a branch on St Aldate’s. It applied for a licence to sell alcohol between 6am and 11pm every day.
But on Thursday a panel of city councillors refused the application, claiming that selling alcohol on this site could “add to the crime and disorder and public nuisance in the area”.
Student Sarah Rohde said, “I think it’s ridiculous that they’ve been refused a licence on the grounds of encouraging drunken behaviour when there is a supermarket with a licence less than 2 minutes away.
“This is a free market and the supermarkets should be allowed to compete fairly.”
Sainsbury’s is currently the only supermarket in the centre of Oxford, with a Local store on Magdalen Street and a large store in the Westgate Centre. It will remain the cheapest place for students to buy alcohol.
David Williams, chairman of the committee which refused the licence application, said, “It was the worst space you could have for selling alcohol. We have homeless institutions only a few yards away.
“Cambridge Terrace, behind, is a well-known spot for street drinking and crime and immediately across is Christ Church gardens where there have been a lot of problems in terms of people drinking in the gardens.
“Then there are the dangers of the river only a few yards away. Only two weeks ago a body was fished out of there after having been drinking.”
Tesco spokesman Michael Kissman said, “Tesco has pioneered responsible alcohol selling procedures, such as the Think 25 policy we have in stores now. We take these matters extremely seriously, and will listen to feedback and decide what to do next”.
Student, Louise Marchand, said, “Tesco is really cheap so in a city full of students it makes sense to have an alcohol licence there”.
Students have also noted that neither of the Sainsbury’s stores in the city centre stocks the full range of ‘Basics’ products, something which the lack of competition makes viable.
Colin Cook, the City Council’s executive member for city development, admitted, “The level of supermarket provision in the city centre is not as high as it probably needs to be.
“Certainly additional competition from somewhere like Tesco will only serve to help keep prices down for people coming to shop in the city.”
Both Tesco and Sainsbury’s run their own brand range of products including alcohol. While Tesco ‘Value’ and Sainsbury’s ‘Basics’ are the same price for gin (£7.78 for a 700ml bottle) and vodka (£7.97), other own brand ranges are generally significantly cheaper at Tesco.
Tesco Imperial Vodka costs £8.77 for 700ml, while Sainsbury’s Vodka is £9.84 for the same amount. Tesco Dry London gin costs £8.56, while the Sainsbury’s equivalent costs £9.84. Tesco charges £6.76 for a 350ml bottle of Smirnoff Red Label vodka, while Sainsbury’s charges £7.80.
A spokesman for Tesco said there was no proposed opening date for the St Aldate’s store, although a plan of its layout has been submitted to Oxford City council. Its purchase was announced in April.
The new shop will be the supermarket chain’s first city centre outlet and will join existing ones in East Oxford, Botley, Summertown and Cowley.
Tesco has also taken over the former Borders store on Magdalen Street to open a Metro store, which sells more products than an Express store.
They have applied for an alcohol licence from 6am to 12.30am Monday to Friday, 6am to midnight on Saturday and 10am to 6pm on Sunday. The city council is set to consider this application on July 25.
John Partington, a director of the Covered Market Traders’ Association, warned that the opening of these two new supermarkets could threaten independent businesses in the city centre.
He said, “It kills off little traders like us. You can do a one-stop shop which is all very convenient and nice, and competitive on price, but everyone ends up with the same old food.
“It ends up sucking the energy out of places like the Covered Market, which are trying to do something unique, exciting and different.
“You can’t buy rabbit in Tesco or wild boar, but it has a knock-on effect on the meat people and the chocolate people and you actually end up with less choice.”
