A DISPUTE between Warminster Town Council and a national sandwich outlet has broken out in a row over its licence.
Subway in Market Place, Warminster, operates as a sandwich bar but councillors have argued that the outlet's seating for 34 people makes it a café and subsequently operating without the correct licence.
The concerns, raised at a town council planning and advisory committee meeting on Monday, have been backed by West Wiltshire District Council, which said this week the outlet needed to apply for further planning permission.
Martin Graves, the licensee of Subway in Warminster, which opened on May 7, disputed the claims arguing that the licence is the same for all Subway outlets across the country.
He said: "It is the primary use which is the determining factor. The majority of customers take their food out.
"There are always people that have concerns but a vast majority of people seem to be supportive of us."
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At the moment the outlet operates under an A1 shop licence after it replaced the Barnado's charity shop earlier this year. This allows them to use the facility as a sandwich shop.
With the extra seating and sale of hot foods, the district council now says it should be categorised as a mixed-use facility, which would require the shop to obtain an A3 licence (café/restaurant) and an A5 licence (takeaway for the sale of hot food).
Town council clerk Heather Abernethie said: "When they opened up it was opened up as a sandwich bar and that's the issue the members have got.
"They are a café as well and have seating inside and outside but they did not apply for change of usage which is something WWDC is looking at.
"This is a big company and I am sure they will have investigated it but it's just the way they have gone about it."
Cllr Tony Nicklin said he welcomed Subway to Warminster but the extent of the litter outside and the way he feels the licence has been dealt with has given him concerns.
He said: "When it came before the town council before, all that came to us was permission to erect two signs.
"It was very suspicious because if they were going to open as a shop that's all they need, but we know that Subway is a café."
James McCron, a spokesman for the district council, said Subway must now either apply for planning permission for change of use or obtain a certificate of lawfulness to prove it has the correct licence. He said: "We continue to monitor the situation and are working with the owner to reach a solution."
Posted by: tony mac, spain on 8:28am Fri 16 May 08
Why wait for subway to apply for the correct planning permission.They seem to be in breach of planning regulations, so until the right paper work is in order just close them down,
Why wait for subway to apply for the correct planning permission.They seem to be in breach of planning regulations, so until the right paper work is in order just close them down,
Posted by: The Dazman, Wiltshire on 8:29am Fri 16 May 08
what blimmin difference does it make to have an 'A3' or an 'A5' printed on the top of their certificate!!? they sell grub, you can sit down to scoff it or wander up the road chowing down on it, take it home or back to work etc etc who cares about what their bit of paper says, I mean who [bold]REALLY[/bold] cares about that??
what blimmin difference does it make to have an 'A3' or an 'A5' printed on the top of their certificate!!? they sell grub, you can sit down to scoff it or wander up the road chowing down on it, take it home or back to work etc etc who cares about what their bit of paper says, I mean who REALLY cares about that??
Posted by: Hayley, Bradford-On-Avon on 4:21pm Fri 16 May 08
If you take that attitude Daz and let businessed get away with breaching their license then who knows what else they might decide to breach cos they can get away with it?
I think a multi-chain like Subway can afford to apply to the right sort of license really.
If you take that attitude Daz and let businessed get away with breaching their license then who knows what else they might decide to breach cos they can get away with it?
I think a multi-chain like Subway can afford to apply to the right sort of license really.
Posted by: The Dazman, Wiltshire on 5:08pm Sun 18 May 08
[quote][bold]Hayley[/bold] wrote:
If you take that attitude Daz and let businessed get away with breaching their license then who knows what else they might decide to breach cos they can get away with it? I think a multi-chain like Subway can afford to apply to the right sort of license really. [/quote] "get away with"?
my understanding is they want to sell people some food not pull off a bullion robbery!
Hayley wrote:
If you take that attitude Daz and let businessed get away with breaching their license then who knows what else they might decide to breach cos they can get away with it? I think a multi-chain like Subway can afford to apply to the right sort of license really.
"get away with"?
my understanding is they want to sell people some food not pull off a bullion robbery!
Posted by: warminster resident, warminster on 1:31pm Mon 26 May 08
The loophole with this is that subway may well be a big company BUT did anyone realise it is sold as a frranchise of approx 8 shops and so is run at the owners discretion. maybe that is why the correct license was not applied for. one thing is for sure if an independant trader wanted to open a shop in town i bet the town council would make **** sure every i was dotted and every t was crossed before they could open.
The loophole with this is that subway may well be a big company BUT did anyone realise it is sold as a frranchise of approx 8 shops and so is run at the owners discretion. maybe that is why the correct license was not applied for. one thing is for sure if an independant trader wanted to open a shop in town i bet the town council would make **** sure every i was dotted and every t was crossed before they could open.
As the Franchisee and the owner of the Subway business in Warminster I can assure readers that Subway is operating from the premises in full accordance with planning and licensing requirements.
The premises we occupy have been granted A1 class of use and Subway is an A1 operation. Indeed Subway operates compliantly from A1 premises at over 1000 locations throughout the UK, including much larger stores with many more seats than we have at Warminster.
For some reason your local council appear to believe planning law applies differently in Warminster to everywhere else in the UK!
As the Franchisee and the owner of the Subway business in Warminster I can assure readers that Subway is operating from the premises in full accordance with planning and licensing requirements.
The premises we occupy have been granted A1 class of use and Subway is an A1 operation. Indeed Subway operates compliantly from A1 premises at over 1000 locations throughout the UK, including much larger stores with many more seats than we have at Warminster.
For some reason your local council appear to believe planning law applies differently in Warminster to everywhere else in the UK!
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