A shop in Chalfont St Giles could soon begin selling alcohol if new plans submitted to Buckinghamshire Council are approved.

Samantha Liebenberg has applied for a premises licence to allow the retail sale of alcohol from the gift and food shop at The Forge Garage, located on Silver Hill.

The proposal seeks permission to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises only, until 5pm Monday to Saturday and until 4pm on Sundays.

The shop, which currently offers gifts, greeting cards, olives and cheeses, operates a ground floor space. It explains in the application that alcohol would only be sold from a limited number of shelves placed at the back of the shop.

It states: “We will operate a Challenge 25 Policy for all alcohol sales – clearly advertised at point of sale and at the till point.

“Staff engaged in the sale or supply of alcohol to customers at the premises shall be trained in the promotion of the licensing objectives as are relevant to their duties.

“This shall include training on awareness of local alcohol related issues. The training shall be recorded in a training record which shall not be removed from the premises, except in case of emergency or for the purposes of copying.

“No single cans or bottles of beer or cider will be sold. No high strength beer or cider products with [7.5% ABV] or higher will be sold.

“No miniature bottles of spirits of 20 cl or below shall be sold from the premises.
Alcohol shall not be sold to any person who is reasonably expected to consume it on the street in the vicinity of the premises. Alcohol shall not be sold to customers in an open container.”

It added that the shop has a comprehensive CCTV system and a police-monitored alarm.

The application continued: “The CCTV system shall continually record whilst the premises is open for licensable activities an and during all times when customers remain on the premises and will include the external area immediately outside the premises entrance.

“All recordings shall be stored for a minimum period of 31 days (or other specified time period) with date and time stamping.

“Staff to ask for age verification identification when presented with an alcohol sale.

“A Challenge 25 proof of age scheme shall be operated at the premises where the only acceptable forms of identification are recognised.”

It concludes by stating that the applicant will abide by the four licensing objectives: preventing crime and disorder, ensuring public safety, preventing public nuisance, and protecting children from harm.