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Serve up another round of licensing laws, please
Neighbours need to be given a bigger say on the siting of bars, writes Tracy Ismail
SINCE the 2003 Licensing Act came into force, giving responsibilities to councils as opposed to magistrates, things have not always been easy and straightforward. The act was supposed to make it easier for residents to object to licences. But as the mantra of the act is that councils should “aim to permit”, it isn’t always easy.
When residents object to a licence they usually fear “public nuisance”. The truth is that most licensed premises do not actually cause a public nuisance but the patrons do, especially when leaving. Sadly, we live in quite a selfish society and people just don’t stop and think about the impact their behaviour has on residents. More importantly, people are now often so drunk they can’t control their behaviour even if they want to. There have been high-profile problems across London with private events in licensed venues, which councils find difficult to control with the existing legislation.
We need better laws to tackle these problems. That is why I went with a group of local Liberal Democrat and Labour councillors recently to meet the Minister responsible for licensing to discuss where the current laws fail to give councils the powers they need.
Residents need to be allowed a stronger voice about whether the location of some licensed premises is appropriate and also about the activities at some venues.
There needs to be more co-ordination between planning and licensing rules. At the moment, you don’t need to have planning permission before you go to the licensing committee to ask for a licence to stay open until the early hours.
It should be the case that you need planning permission to stay open late and then you get the licence. That way councillors and residents know where they stand when planning permission is granted.
As the law stands, someone can get a licence to stay open until the early hours and then go back to the planning committee and say: “Well, licensing agreed.” Nine times out of 10 they are granted planning permission for the new hours.
The worst part of it is that the law ties the hands of the licensing committee so we have few grounds to refuse longer opening hours in the first place. That is ridiculous and it needs to change so councillors can take into account the concerns of residents.
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