A FIRST step has been taken to combat drunk and rowdy behaviour plaguing residents in Chester city centre.
With noise, vomit and the stench of urine the price they pay for others having what they believe is a good night out, Chester City borough councillor Samantha Dixon (Lab) believes the scales have tipped too far in favour of more and more late night licences being granted.
She teamed up with licensing chief, Newton councillor Adrian Walmsley (Con), to gain unanimous all party backing at a meeting of the full council in Winsford to start the ball rolling on a possible ‘cumulative impact policy’ to protect occupiers.
In time, that could put the brakes on the runaway trend for yet more licences for pubs, clubs and takeaways keeping people on the streets until 3am and later.
Apart from the all party support, the move crucially has the green light from police commissioner John Dwyer, Chester police and Chester Pubwatch.
Cllr Dixon told the council a survey had shown more than half of occupiers in the city centre believed there was a serious problem with people being drunk and rowdy in public places.
“As their elected representative, this is a statistic I cannot ignore,” she insisted.
Cllr Walmsley added: “Unlike at present, the policy, if implemented, will place emphasis on the applicant to prove that late night drinking will not have an impact on the residents who live nearby the licensed premises involved.”
Council officers will now gather information to support the policy.
If approved, the borough’s licensing committee would then have extra powers when considering new applications which could restrict the number of licensed premises and their hours of opening.
