Residents are concerned about what the centre has planned and the town council is has objected to the application which will be decided by South Bucks District Council.
The former Wyevale garden centre on London Road has applied for permission to supply alcohol between 8am and 9.30pm seven days a week, and to play live and recorded music in during the same hours. Councillor Alan Wilson, who lives in Tilsworth Road on the Wattleton Estate near the site, said: "The live music could be a public nuisance, the attraction of extra traffic could be against public safety and we should object to the sale of alcohol to protect children from harm."
Martin Andrews, regional manager for Beaconsfield Garden Centre, said the store may be holding promotional evenings for the sale of wines, local beers and ciders. Shoppers would be entertained with live music such as jazz or carol singing. However no alcohol would be consumed on the premises. He added: "The centre normally closes at 6pm and if we do host an event or promotional evening we will never extend to opening later than 8pm."
When premises have to go through this process, even to stage something like this - it raises fears that are often unfounded but starts a process where complaints make a successful outcome very unlikely. This is why, places that are already made safe for the public) should not be subject to additional entertainment licensing.
The whole thing is further complicated when it is the same licence required for alcohol. Whoever played any part in permanently associating alcohol and entertainment in one licence, a move which enabled council employed vandals to use it as a bargaining tool and to strangle it in red-tape, as in the Licensing Act 2003, has dealt one live music a blow that it is unlikely to recover from.
And the current Govt is equally to blame in making knee-jerk proposals to deal with alcohol, which make no mention of live music - as if there was still a licence which dealt exclusivly with alcohol.............