A LEGAL battle involving two of the UK's pub giants has seen JD Wetherspoons given permission for another major outlet in Scotland, despite objections from residents and health professionals.
Stirling's licensing board voted four to one in favour of the licence for a Wetherspoon pub in the city's Spittal Street, sparking claims locally that the authority is failing to follow Scotland's liquor laws.
Community representatives have claimed the board has failed to act on the requirements to have an "over-provisions policy" and that if one had been in place the application would not have been granted.
In recent years, Scotland's historic former capital has become a key battleground for arguments on the over-provision of pubs.
The Wetherspoons venue will see capacity for drinking increased by 700. Wetherspoons had already been given the go-head for a superpub in Stirling despite its first application being refused by the council and only succeeding after an appeal.
The go-ahead was then halted when rival Greene King sought a judicial review of the previous decision by the city's licensing chiefs.
Resident Michael Adam, who objected to the plans, said: "The centre of Stirling already has one of the highest concentrations of drinking venues in Scotland.
"The board granted the application, thereby increasing the drinking capacity in the locality by over 10%, by not only discounting the opposing arguments of the health board, the two adjacent community councils and local residents, but also bypassing the detailed requirements for conducting a formal assessment of overprovision in the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.
"The current law has been in place fully for well over three years. If the Scottish Health Minister wishes to tackle the problem of over-consumption of alcohol, and its associated health and social problems, he requires the licensing boards to comply fully with the requirements of the law."
A Forth Valley NHS spokeswoman said: "The objection to this application was based on requirements set out in the Licensing Scotland Act (2005) to protect and improve public health. It was felt that granting a licence to an additional large outlet in central Stirling would not meet this criteria.
"The health board is disappointed that the Stirling Licensing Board reversed its original decision to refuse the licence in February 2012."
Greene King's judicial review sparked a war of words between the two brewers, with Wetherpoons accusing its rival of "being frightened of competition and ... seeking to preserve a local monopoly in Stirling".
Wetherpoon's chairman Tim Martin claimed Greene King's court bid was "a throwback to the 1980s when the major brewers tried to stop Wetherspoon and other companies opening up close to their pubs".
Cask ale brewer Greene King operates eight pubs in Stirling, with six within 400 yards of the planned Wetherspoons venue.
Greene King's Corn Exchange is just 75 yards away. The closest Wetherspoons pub is the Carron Works in Falkirk 10 miles away.
The board was told by the court to reconsider last September's decision to grant the licence.
Licensing board chairman councillor Graham Houston said: "Having listened carefully to the arguments put forward by the applicants and objectors, and having regard for the requirements of licensing legislation, I was persuaded that the application put forward by JD Wetherspoons should be granted."
Mr Martin said: "We would now ask Greene King to respect the decision made by members of Stirling licensing board. This would then allow Wetherspoon to invest more than £1.5 million on the new pub and create 50 jobs in the process, which has to be good news for the city."
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