There are already two outlets in this area - the bottle shop at the shopping centre and Waratah Sports Club that relies on the proceeds of the sale of alcohol as part of its income to keep the club going.

Another outlet will no doubt impact on these existing outlets and also will impact on existing outlets in the CBD and adjacent areas that are paying considerable rentals and need sufficient trade to survive.

It would be fair to say that the siting of a new service station in this vicinity would have impacted the existing servos on Bathurst Road.

There are many vacant shops already in the CBD due in some cases to high rentals and insufficient trade or a combination of both, another reason not to allow more competition to establish.

These outlets also have the unfortunate reputation, in many cases, of creating an unintentional increase in bad behaviour in their vicinity due to the effect that consumption of alcohol has on people.

I ask the council to think carefully before allowing this outlet to go ahead as unfortunately not everyone is a responsible consumer of alcohol.

Max Gregory, Orange