The council will press ahead with plans to tackle problem drinking and anti-social behaviour in a south Leeds community.
Licensing procedures could be tightened for retailers in Beeston after fears were raised over an increase in street drinking.
A public consultation will be launched on plans to designate part of the community as a Cumulative Impact Area (CIA). The scheme would give the council and police more oversight of the alcohol trade in the Dewsbury Road area.
Leeds City Council’s licensing committee voted to go ahead with the CIA plan at a meeting on Tuesday 17 September.
Green Party councillor Ed Carlisle welcomed the plan for Beeston, which is in his Hunslet and Riverside ward.
He said: “I think a CIA is really welcome. In the last few years we have seen a real upsurge in anti-social behaviour.”
A report to the meeting described how drugs needles, condoms and bottles had to be cleared daily from school grounds. School staff were also witnessing drunken behaviour from people who were often verbally abusive.
Cllr Carlisle said people in the community were concerned about drug use. He said: “We are hearing testimony about needles in gardens.”
The meeting was told there were 29 licensed premises on Dewsbury Road and another 15 on Tempest Road and Beeston Road.
Cllr Neil Buckley, Conservative member for Alwoodley, asked if the off-licences were selling illicit tobacco and alcohol. He said: “I think this really needs following up with the police.”
Councillors heard that a CIA scheme was already being used in Harehills, also a deprived community hit by street drinking and disorder.
Susan Duckworth, principal licensing officer, said: “In these more deprived areas, they are prone to dependent drinkers, using the streets to drink in.”
A CIA for Beeston would be reviewed every three years and could be extended to other parts of the community.
