Green Councillors have secured a victory for local residents by preventing further growth of late-night alcohol outlets in the North Laine area of the city.
The Council’s new Statement of Licensing Policy, to be approved this week, was set to give the green light to new licenses for cafe bars in the area, which residents feared could lead to an explosion of new drinking venues in the area. Following an amendment by the Greens, new cafe bars will now be unlikely to be licensed unless they can demonstrate they will not have a negative cumulative impact on the area.
The North Laine Community Association have welcomed the move and praised Councillor Lizzie Deane for her work in amending the policy.
Green Councillor for St. Peters and North Laine ward, Pete West, said:
“The Statement of Licensing Policy is an important tool in striking a balance between our important night-time economy and city centre residents quality of life,by protecting city centre areas from excessive noise and anti-social behaviour associated with late night drinking .
“Residents in the North Laine area expressed their concerns that an increase in alcohol venues would lead to an increase in noise and disturbance for residents if regulation was too weak.
“We put these concerns directly to colleagues on the licensing committee, who agreed to amend the proposals so that new cafe-bars would be unlikely to be approved. Residents can now rest assured that the impacts of late-night drinking and anti-social behaviour should not get worse in their area”.