Consultation on number of Lerwick off-licences
Adam GuestThe isles licensing board has agreed there is a potential “overprovision” of off-licences in Lerwick.
However, a further consultation is to take place before the board can formally agree there is an overprovision in the town.
The issue was again discussed by councillors at a meeting on Tuesday, with the meeting being told that overprovision had been the “most difficult issue” as the board looks to set its new three-year policy statement.
NHS Shetland has continued to make the case that there are too many off-licences in Lerwick, and public health chief Elizabeth Robinson has said there is a connection between accessing drink and alcohol abuse and impact on health.
More in Friday’s Shetland Times
Ali Inkster
Take tesco and co op licence and you take care of 95% of sales in Lerwick
Wayne Conroy
Absolute nonsense… If too many off license premises were to blame for alcohol abuse then the likes of Spain and Portugal would be flooded with alcoholics as there are a higher quantity of shops there selling booze. The problem is with the drinking culture in Shetland. Want to point the finger? Try looking at the likes of the pubs that serve people till they can no longer talk or the likes of up helly aa where drinking is almost considered part of the festival.
Johan Adamson
Im really concerned at the drinking culture amongst the younger generation. A statistic for the UK said this morning that drinking in the younger age groups has fallen, but not so with our youth. Even at 13, bairns are feeling pressured into drinking and think a couple of alco pops will do no harm. They are receiving good messages from the school tho, as one 13 year old came home with the message that if alcohol was just invented it would be classified as a class A drug. The recent club night as part of the Year of the Young person at Mareel included drinking which frightened the lower age groups (broken glass, spewing etc). Why does everything need to revolve around drink? Why is it still the case that you need alcohol to have a good time, when actually it is likely to make you more boring, more depressed and in some cases lose the head and gain an addiction? Our young people need to join the rest of the world.