Open All Hours?                                                                      Roger Mortimer

 

Bristol under the new licensing laws  

    

The new Licensing Bill is now being considered in the Commons, as amended by the House of Lords. Many of these amendments related to such matters exemptions for church music and pub duos! Some have attempted to address our concerns about effect ‘the least regulated licensing regime’  in the Western World will have on the lives of city dwellers. The education programme mounted by the Open All Hours* group (see below) and the worries of local authorities and police, have led to a few helpful changes, some of which have been reluctantly accepted by the Minister. Thank you to the RCAS members, two as far as we know, who have added to the campaign with letters to our MP. We were also pleased to see that Bristol Council, with all party support, resolved to write to the Minister expressing their concerns.

 

Others amendments may well be undone in the Commons, however hard we continue to campaign but most of the implications of the new regime can now be seen. This is a brief explanation of what we expect to happen from September, when applications for the new style licenses start to come in.

 

By then, the Council will have had to produce and consult on Bristol’s Local Licensing Strategy. This will be constrained by the Government’s liberalising agenda for the Night Time Economy, (code for bars  and clubs!) but will still be important. We therefore need to make representations to the Council.

 

Remember, the bill removes fixed closing hours because the Government says that ‘if people can drink when they want they will behave more responsibly’. Many MP’s of all parties seem to have accepted this amazingly optimistic theory about British drinking culture. There will therefore be a presumption in favour of late opening. Locally, we expect that almost all premises will submit plans to remain open later, with the larger pubs and bars looking to close at 1 or 2 in the morning, at least at weekends. The market for the Night Time Economy, as it is now called, is almost entirely the ‘youth market’ so their plans will probably include more entertainment, mainly music/dancing.

 

Residents and community groups such as RCAS will be able to object. Contested applications will be heard by the Council’s Licensing Committee. We have developed a good understanding of the local licensing scene including the general approach of the Police and the Council’s Licensing team. We can therefore suggest ways that residents and Societies could handle the new situation. As the first one or two new licensing applications will set the pattern it is very important that we start to collect evidence and rehearse arguments before September.

 

 However continued RCAS Committee involvement will depend on whether members and other residents feel strongly enough about the situation to take any action. We need to know this soon – so if you are concerned about the way you may be affected by changes to licensed premises near you, and/or would like to know more please contact :

Roger Mortimer  924 0136 or Sarah Holloway 973 7374.

 

* Open All Hours ? Group  The Bristol contribution to this national campaign has been fronted by RCAS and St Johns Residents Association, represented by Bob Chambers, who is also a RCAS member. We have been able to speak for these 7 Bristol groups – who together comprise over 4,000 Bristol residents.

 

Aberdeen Road Area Residents Association, Clifton and Hotwells Improvement Society, Bristol Civic Society,  Kingsdown Conservation Group, High Kingsdown Residents Association, The Bishopston Society, St Michael’s Hill and Christmas Steps Association