Licensing chiefs agreed a clampdown on any further large off-licences yesterday after hearing shock figures of alcohol abuse across the region.
Highland Licensing Board heard that alcohol-related hospital admissions are “significantly in excess” of the Scottish average in more than half of the 22 council election areas.
And NHS Highland told the board that people in some parts of the north also drink in excess of the Scottish average, costing annually £383 per head in loss of production, crime, health and social care.
The medical experts’ report also said problem drinking is a factor in suicides, domestic abuse and assaults as well as causing harm to health.
Under the licensing boards’ new policy agreed unanimously, there will be a presumption against granting an off-sales licence of more than 430sqft (40 sq metres) – roughly the size of the off-sales area at the Co-Op in Church Street, Inverness.
Supermarkets and other businesses planning large display areas for alcohol off-sales will now have to prove to the board that the application will not cause alcohol harm to the local population.
The board is one of the first in Scotland to adopt this over-provision policy and chairwoman Maxine Smith said it was a “brave decision”.
The move came after the board viewed a NHS Highland film outlining the harm from alcohol in the region and in which director of public health Margaret Somerville said there were high rates of hospital admissions through alcohol.
She added: “These days most alcohol is consumed in the home and most is bought in supermarkets. It is very easy to get hold of. We know that people living very close to alcohol outlets buy more and we assume consume more.”
Liz Smart, consultant in public health for NHS Highland, said 44% of men and 37% of women in the region drank more than the recommended weekly limit.
She added that 94% lived within 10 minutes driving time of an off-licence while this fell to 66% for those walking.
Ms Smart said: “We don’t want to cause harm to small businesses. The largest capacity supermarket off-sales in the Highlands is more than 3,230sqft. We want to stop supermarkets asking for such huge areas again.”
The health board’s call for a region-wide policy was shared by the licensed trade, but the police argued for lesser measures.
The force wanted the clampdown on large off-licences to be targeted at 25 areas with the highest hospitalisation rates for alcohol-related conditions.
These include parts of Inverness, Fort William, Nairn, Caithness, Sutherland, Skye and Lochalsh, as well as Alness, Dingwall, Tain and Invergordon.
Inspector Archie Henderson told the board he thought that incidents such as domestic abuse, assaults, breaches of the peace and people being drunk and incapable made up around 80% of police work and around 80% of these incidents were alcohol related.
He said the police’s preferred option used evidence as a base to make an informed decision, as opposed to the Highland-wide version.
He said: “I don’t think the blanket option across Highland is proportionate.”
But Ms Smart said she felt the targeted option was a “sticking plaster” approach to the problem.
Skye councillor Drew Miller unsuccessfully argued for no change, claiming that clamping down on large off-licences could stifle future development.
Nairn councillor Liz MacDonald said she backed the police option but both councillors did not press their objections in the face of overwhelming opposition by the eight other members.
The three-year policy comes into force on December 1.