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CHIS Licensing

RoseMary Musgrave

Licensed Premises

All licensing applications in Bristol 8 are being looked at by CHIS. If people are opposing please email Rosemary (R.Musgrave@bristol.ac.uk) a copy of their letter so that she can, if appropriate, support local residents.
THIS IS WHAT EVERY RESIDENT CAN DO.
If any licensed premises starts to cause you regular problems then you have the right to give notice to the licence holder of the premises and the licensing authority that you call for the licence to be reviewed. This can result in a range of sanctions, from new conditions being imposed or the hours or activities being cut back to the licence being suspended for a period or even taken away for good. This is a new and potentially very effective power for residents to get something done about a licensed premises that is causing problems. But the onus is on you to initiate the review.
Your reasons must be related to at least one of the four licensing objectives and be based on evidence. The four licensing objectives are:

Crime and Disorder

Crime and disorder and public safety are primarily matters for the Police who should be called as soon as possible if there is an incident. You can call the local Police on 0845 4567 000 or 999 if it is an emergency.
Keep your own record of what you see, the date and time. Next day ring again and ask for the reference number for the incident. This will mean that if you give evidence at a review Police records can be called as evidence.

Public Nuisance.

This is noise, urinating in streets and gardens etc. This is where evidence is of paramount importance. CHIS will always try and be of help to members and to the area.
The new conditions and hours came into force on 24 November 2005.
To be successful at a review you will need to prove that the new conditions have made the situation worse. To do this you will have to record accurately in the next 4 weeks what the current situation is, the good and the bad evenings. If this is not done, you have no evidence. Without evidence you have a very poor case.
Most important, please refer to the summary of the Act which has been produced by the Civic Trust and is the most comprehensible we have seen. It is worth people reading this before writing a letter - it will probably make it more effective.
  • Applications under the recent legislation are being made. In consultation with the Police it was agreed to try to get a closing time of 12.00 throughout Clifton Village for all licensed premises.
  • Draft Statement of the Licensing Policy presented to the Bristol City Council meeting 12 October 2005. RoseMary is extremely grateful to Roger Mortimer and Bob Chambers for all the work they have put into this in such a short time.

    Licensing Reform.

    Annual Reports

    Useful websites:

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