Cllr Steve Hedges Questions Licensing Policy

10.52.15am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 29th Nov 2007

Steve Hedges highlighted flaws in Tory policy

Odd Down Councillor Steve Hedges called into question the Conservatives new licensing policy in a letter to the Chronicle last week. Cllr Hedges highlighted legitimate concerns surrounding the legality of the policy and states that it could cost the Council large amounts of money in legal proceedings. Read the full letter below,

"Dear Editor,

As many of your readers will no doubt be aware, the Council is required by law to update its policies on licensing matters every three years.

Next week (22nd November) the Council will be asked to adopt the revised "Statement of Licensing Policy", which now includes the Cumulative Impact Policy (or saturation policy) brought in by the Conservatives. This new saturation policy has been bolted on to existing licensing rules and is creating clear conflicts and inconsistencies within the Council's licensing policy.

The report, which will come before the Council, has twice been criticised by members of the Licensing Committee (on 19th September and 2nd November) and has already been rewritten once. There are clear contradictions within the report rendering it unworkable. Take, as one example, the following statement from the Government's guidance on licensing rules:

"The Statement of Policy should also make it clear that licensing law is not the primary mechanism for the general control of nuisance and antisocial behaviour by individuals once they are away from the premises."

And yet the Conservative-led saturation policy, as incorporated into the Council's Licensing Policy, states:

"The licensing authority wishes to take steps to prevent the occurrence of public nuisance and crime and disorder which may arise from the concentration of licensed premises in a particular area. This effect is known as cumulative impact."

Lib Dem members of the Licensing Committee believe that the contradiction between the two statements above could leave the Council open to damaging and expensive legal action. Furthermore, at the last Committee meeting, Conservative panel members, including the Chair of the Licensing Committee Councillor Tim Warren, asked the Committee to remove the principle that each licensing application should be considered "on its own merits" from the Council's Licensing policy, in order that their saturation policy would sit better within it!

The majority of the Liberal Democrat members on the Licensing Committee could not support such proposals made by the Conservative members and so abstained from the vote.

Conservatives will no doubt say that we are just anti their new saturation policy, but what we oppose is the removal of a fundamental licensing principle. It is wrong and unfair attempt to do so.

Yours sincerely,

Cllr Steve Hedges"