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ARGUS COMMENT: Booze licence crackdown is right

11:13am Friday 18th January 2008

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IT'S quite correct that police want to make it harder for people to obtain a licence to sell alcohol in Abertillery.

For a number of years they have been dealing with alcohol-fuelled violence as the number of pubs grow and compete against each other to sell the cheapest drink.

Police now say the number of outlets selling booze in Abertillery is growing out of all proportion.

Their resources are stretched, especially at the weekends, and at some times they are "at breaking point".

Asking for a special saturation policy which would limit the amount of new licences being granted is hardly a new idea but it's one we hope Blaenau Gwent council take seriously.

Why should our police officers have to stretch their resourses so much just to cope with those who want to cause trouble after having a drink?

Yes, there will always be a need for police to have a presence in areas where there are high numbers of people drinking.

But not to the extent that officers are unable to do anything else because they are all dealing with drunks.

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Your Say YourSouth Wales Argus

H. ROBINSON, says...
11:31am Fri 18 Jan 08

The extended opening times are the biggest cause of increased fighting on our streets, I think we should revert to the 11-00 stoptap.
and stop selling alcohol in cornershops etc.

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Owain Vaughan, Newport Monmouthshire says...
11:33am Fri 18 Jan 08

Where are the statistics to back that up? In reality the opposite is true!

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js, cardiff says...
12:03pm Fri 18 Jan 08

Cant understand the comments made by H Robinson to be honest.

Where does he get his so called "facts" from.

We have trouble and plenty of it when the 11.00 stoptap was in place !!!!

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DG, Newport says...
12:30pm Fri 18 Jan 08

Here's a thought - why don't the police start arresting people for public drunkeness *before* they start fighting, vomiting and urinating? It would be hard at first, but after a while people would get the message that rolling around the streets is likely to land them in trouble, and would buy less alcohol. The licensing problem then sorts itself out in accordance with the law of supply and demand.

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DG, Newport says...
12:38pm Fri 18 Jan 08

Incidentally, I've given a lot of thought to the problems my solution might cause some local businesses, and my studied conclusion is - soddem. Why should they be entitled to make money off a social phenomena that's costing taxpayers a bl@@dy fortune to clean up?

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Charles, Monmouth says...
2:15pm Fri 18 Jan 08

I am a former Police Officer. Each arrest for drunkeness ties up at least 1 bobby plus the van driver. In the custody suite there is invariably a queue of prisoners waiting for the laborious, bureaucratic procedure of being "booked in" This can take up to an hour or more when the arresting officer is off the streets.
In a town like Monmouth which may only have, if lucky, a handful of policemen on duty, the whole shift could well be tied up dealing with a handful of drunks.
One part of the solution is to prosecute and remove the licenses from those landlords who persist in selling alcohol to people already drunk.

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DG, Newport says...
3:01pm Fri 18 Jan 08

Agreed, posecuting landlords would be another important step (whose job is it to that, btw?) and the police would need to be properly resourced and supported in order to make the zero tolerance plan work. But dealing with those drunks earlier in the evening could save having to deal with an alcohol-fuelled glassing later on. How many bobbies and vans does that tie up? Not to mention the human cost.

The bottleneck at booking in is interesting - what causes the hold up there? Is it a lack of staff to do the paperwork? Or delays caused by verifying the offender's identity?

Incidentally, I support the police 100% in their pay dispute and would vote for any party that promised to give frontline service staff a competitive, professional wage that properly reflects the responsibilities that come with their jobs.

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duncan, cwmfelinfach says...
4:50pm Fri 18 Jan 08

My suggestion for this drink problem;-"Hit"squads of police who do not get into arguments with these troublesome drunks,backed up with suitable vehicles eg cattle trucks. Offenders loaded in and taken to a secure compound,where they remain until the following day to be processed by civilian staff. Nothing too elaborate,name, address,£50 fine.The second visit to the compound would result in a £100 fine, and so on.....I wonder if that would infringe any human rights?

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Strider, says...
5:47pm Fri 18 Jan 08

They should close these premise's down, and stop giving out more licenses, the police have the power.. What they really need is a police force like they have In Ireland, America, France, Spain etc.. As soon these pondlife mouth off, the police are beating them with there batons, when there told me to move - THEY MOVE!!!.. With all the cry baby **** we have over here this would never happen..

As I said many times the council are only interested in profits and in there pea size brains alcohol equals profits.

The only thing these corner shops sell is alcohol and the amount of vermin, sorry Angels who suppodely have nothing to do but stand outside corner shops and drink

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Mervyn James, says...
7:30pm Fri 18 Jan 08

The police and LA must be more pro-active on removing licences, especially for the off licence sector who constantly sell to anyone with the money, of any age. So far all we read is of £80 fines, this is a farce, one offence a £1,000, next, removal of licence, to concentrate the minds of the repeated offenders. This should be operated across all areas of Gwent and Wales. Newport has streets with 3 or 4 off licnces on them... the scale of drink availability is horrendous. There is more than a suspicion LA's are reluctant to remove licences because e.g. places like Newport LA get a fair amount of cash via drinking dens and scared stiff if pubs close or clubs do, or off licences can't sell drink regardless for what reason, there will be no 'night life' in the town, so quite content to drive families out of towns to accommodate the drunk, and the alcoholic.

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duncan, cwmfelinfach says...
7:57pm Fri 18 Jan 08

Excessive drinking,the fault of the LA, drug offences,blame the ready supply of drugs,heavily in debt?,it must be that cash is just too readily available.Always the blame seems to be directed somewhere else,it`s about time these people accquired some self disipline and self control,the sooner the better for the rest of us

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Strider, Under the Argus's Desk says...
8:44pm Fri 18 Jan 08

Meryvn is spot on right.. The LA gave out to more licenses in Newport a few weeks back and there both dead when I go past them.. Newport at night is dead the only people who go are the binge drinkers and scumbags.. Don't believe me how long have they been trying to leash Lloyds and 'The Griffin' they've given up trying to leash.. Must have been pained the LA closing Horn Blower down for not paying there license

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Mervyn James, says...
11:49am Sat 19 Jan 08

There are 17 or more places to obtain drink within 3oo yards of my home,if this is not sheer overkill, then what is ? Soon there will be no shops in the town centres just pubs and clubs.... and in your street too... just when you thought the old 17thc image of Newport as "a foul - smelling, Dirty, and awful town, awash with drink... and runkards lying in the gutter at all hour's of God's day..."

We find nothing has changed.

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