Licensees in Colchester have held an emergency meeting – faced with threats of a clampdown on the town’s night-time drinking culture.It seems they aren’t too happy at the activities of the ‘Something must be done!’ crowd:
Leading Colchester councillors are suggesting planned changes to the licensing laws could allow them to punish licensees who let customers get drunk and cause trouble in the town centre.So in the face of threats to their livelihood, they are organising to prevent a united front? Sounds familiar….
In response, about 30 publicans involved in the town's Pubwatch scheme met at the Bull public house, in Crouch Street.
They discussed the proposals, ways to improve the atmosphere in the town centre at night and concerns that councillors’ comments were giving licensees a bad name.It seems that most of the things the councillors are complaining about are already being address, according to the Pubwatch scheme:
The group’s deputy chairman, Paul Ryan, said: “In the 15 months I have been running Liquid nightclub in the High Street, and as deputy chairman, I have personally witnessed the strong partnership between the Pubwatch members, the council’s licensing department and the police.Which is..?
“Never has this partnership had a better result than the SOS bus.”
The bus – funded by the council, community groups and licensees – parks in the High Street at weekends, offering support, advice and help to late-night revellers. Pubwatch insists many of the measures suggested by councillors to improve the atmosphere in the town at night are already being brought in.Ah, but you see, licensees don’t have to get re-elected.
But councillors do…
9 comments:
"Leading Colchester councillors are suggesting planned changes to the licensing laws could allow them to punish licensees who let customers get drunk and cause trouble in the town centre" ...
What a complete consignment of geriatric shoe-makers ..
As I understand the law, its already an offence for any Licensee to serve alcohol to a drunken person ..
And how, precisely are Licensees supposed to prevent "trouble in the Town Centre" ?
Surely that's the job & responsibility of Essex Police ? ..
Sounds very much like .. "We haven't a clue what to do, so lets find someone to blame and punish" ..
What ails these simpletons ????
Here's a novel idea. you have the police with dogs etc in the town centre on Saturday night. Anyone misbehaving is arrested and sent to court for the offense and magistrates then give the maximum sentence. This might just work.
Chalcedon and Captain H, you have hit the nail on the head, you have identified the solution quickly and easily, in fact you have simply identified what used to happen before Police Farces were run by socialist worker sleepers who think dealing with criminality is only a small proportion of policing; and began to speak like complete fuckwits whilst bending over to take it bareback from their nu-labor bosses.
Perhaps as a first step back towards normality (ie what Calcedon said) the publicans and restaurant owners in Colchester could get together and declare all local councillors from whatever political party, and maybe a few senior plods as well, "persona non grata" in their establishments. A few months of no wining and dining, no freebie meals, no parties/events/functions etc might remind them who's the boss; the troughing pigs or those that pay their wages.
Nulabor thought that a relaxation of the licensing hours would result in a 'cafe culture'. Al fresco bars with tables,umbrellas and nice people sipping drinks.
Unfortunately Torquay is not Tuscany and we know what happened instead.
Even the smoking ban has helped create the problem of youths hanging about outside the pub.
There are so many pubs and bars crammed into each street that deciding where any particular 'got drunk' might be rather difficult.
And it sounds as if the licensees are trying to make sure they do not get punished for something that was not there fault.
Something probably does 'need to be done', but the genie is out of the bottle.
My local town is so dead its only economy is drunks and its pubs so dire you need to get drunk to stay in them. I've given it up.
Pubs are shutting and sheebeens and white lightening drug nights have replaced them (not for me). Soon our town centre will be a desert and the trouble will be more local and more illegal. A brew your own has started down the road and I know of some cheap micro brewing kit being used to evade the revenue people (the swill is better than white lightening and a lot of cheap pub beer). Perhaps we should replace the cops with Redcoats?
"Surely that's the job & responsibility of Essex Police ? .."
You might think so. I couldn't possibly comment!
"This might just work."
As Ranter points out, it used to!
"...get together and declare all local councillors from whatever political party, and maybe a few senior plods as well, "persona non grata" in their establishments."
Two thumbs up for THAT idea!
"Even the smoking ban has helped create the problem of youths hanging about outside the pub. "
Ah, good point!
"Perhaps we should replace the cops with Redcoats?"
Heh!
I don't recall this happening in the last recession, but then, we didn't have the effects of the smoking ban and the spread of the 'do it yourself' culture from easily-availabl;e instructions on the internet?
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