MP's joy as pub ban moves near

3:34pm Friday 1st September 2006

STOUBRIDGE MP Lynda Waltho has welcomed a vote to bring a ban on new bars in the town closer.

On Monday August 21, a meeting of Dudley Council's Licensing and Safety Committee backed plans for a cumulative impact rule, which will introduce a presumption to reject applications for new premises in the vicinity of the ring road.

The rule, initiated by Stourbridge police, is designed to cap the numbers of revellers on the streets at peak times to the current level of around 4,000.

Lynda said: "I am really pleased that the local police decided to use the new powers in the Licensing Act and have recommended adoption of the cumulative impact rule to Stourbridge town centre and it is another step forward that local councillors have taken."

A full council meeting will now vote on a proposal to give the plan the go-ahead, which will be the first time this legislation has been used outside a city centre.

Lynda said: "I hope all Dudley councillors will do the right thing and vote to adopt this new government legislation which is designed to protect local people from the impact of new bar development and to give them a voice against further development through their elected representatives."

The scheme, which will also make permission to alter existing opening hours less likely to be granted, has been broadly welcomed by existing businesses in the area.

Steve Dennis, director of Luminar Leisure who operate Chicago Rock Cafe on the High Street, said: "In Stourbridge we are moving towards a position where supply outstrips demand, this is prone to generate discounting and lowering of standards which will inevitably create subsequent disorder and disturbance."

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