Perth Voice Interactive

WOOLWORTHS is withholding a key report from the public that purports to support its plan to build a 990sqm Dan Murphy’s in Maylands, says the McCusker centre for action on alcohol and youth.

The $3.5 million Peninsula Tavern redevelopment will include a family-friendly bistro, which locals are happy with, but many oppose the giant bottleshop that comes with it.

Woolworths’ ALH Group is applying for a liquor licence and cites a 2010 report that measured the impact of Dan Murphy’s liquor stores on alcohol-related harm in WA.

Conclusions are summarised in ALH’s public interest assessment as “the impact of the Dan Murphy’s stores was too small to be detected”.

McCusker CEO Julia Stafford wants to see the full report, not just the summary, but ALH has denied her requests.

“We’re very concerned that a company which seeks to open yet another liquor barn is not prepared to open their evidence to public scrutiny,” she says.

“It raises serious questions about why they’re not prepared to make this report public, and those questions remain unanswered.

“The only conclusion to draw is that the report they cite is flawed: the liquor commission should refuse to consider a report that is not open to public scrutiny.

“The opportunity for community responses to this liquor barn application has been and gone, and despite multiple requests for the report, we’re still left in the dark.”

Maylands is home to a number of agencies that mop up alcohol-related problems, including Shopfront, Autumn Centre and 55 Central.

In 2010 Maylands Labor MP Lisa Baker spearheaded a campaign that stopped Coles building a 1250sqm booze barn on Guildford Road.

“How can residents give a full response to this application, when they were only ever given partial knowledge of documentation for these plans?” she asks, backing up McCusker’s bid for full disclosure.

Neither ALH nor WA racing, gaming, and liquor got back to the Voice.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK