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Camden New Journal - by ED CUMMING
Published: 20 December 2007

Bar moves a few yards and moves back its
closing time

Neighbours’ anger as fashionable Stables pub gets go-ahead

ONE of Camden Town’s most popular bars is set to reopen just a few feet from its former site in the Stables market after it was granted a late licence on Tuesday.
Gallery owner turned pub boss Alex Proud will reopen his Proud Bar in the Horse Hospital building in the market in February.
He was forced to leave his previous home in the nearby Gin House because of a controversial redevelopment of the cobbled market.
Although Mr Proud asked for a 3am finish nearly every night of the week, he was granted a 1am licence from Monday to Wednesday, and a 2am close on weekends. Licensing chiefs set a capacity limit at 700.
“It’s a little disappointing,” said Mr Proud. “But I understand the reasons and respect them.”
Mr Proud’s previous bar – simply named ‘Proud’ – became a well-known celebrity hang-out. Its drinkers included Razorlight’s Jonny Borrell and Natalie Imbruglia, and it is generally regarded as the bar that made Camden fashionable again.
Mr Proud said the new venue – despite an increase in size inside – had a smaller, more sheltered terrace and told councillors he had received just one complaint in the space of 18 months.
Judith Mayhew, a family barrister from nearby Harmood Street who has a six-week-old baby, described suffering sleepless nights as a result of anti-social behaviour stemming from Proud bar revellers.
She said the three-hour meeting was “farcical”, and criticised the licensing panel for “nodding through” Mr Proud’s licence in a “special policy area” where the presumption should go against the applicant.
Ms Mayhew said: “They didn’t treat it as a new application, they treated it as a variation. They went straight into debating how late it would be open and did not even consider not granting it.
“It’s a licensing free-for-all.
“They think business is more important than residents.”
Liberal Democrat councillor Ralph Scott said: “This is Camden Town where there is late-night entertainment. That’s one of the things it’s known for.”

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