Councillor raises concerns that some Ashby pubs and bars are not included in town's Cumulative Impact Assessment area
An Ashby councillor had questioned why a number of venues in the town have not been included in the 'Cumulative Impact Assessment' review held last week at North West Leicestershire District Council.
The council's licensing committee met last week to discuss the scheme, which was first introduced in 2005.
It will be recommended to full council next February that the CIA remains in place - after concerns over crime in the town at night had been expressed.
But Conservative district councillor Mike Ball, who represents the Oakthorpe and Donisthorpe Ward, made the point that certain pubs and bars on the edge of the Market Street area served by the CIA.
He felt that The Plough, The Shoulder of Mutton and Twelve - formerly The Vine - should be included, although he made it clear that he does not consider them to be 'troublemakers'.
Cllr Ball told the meeting: "There's a couple of licensed premises which are sort of just on the edge of the zone, and I don't really understand why they're not included because it would give an even greater density of alcohol serving premises.
"It's called Twelve these days, or The Vine, and you've got The Plough on the Green again.
"I'm not suggesting those two are troublemakers, but there are more licensed premises than this report summarises."
Council officer, Andy Cooper, responded that neither establishment had raised any concerns historically.
He said: "They've not been referred to as problematic premises. We have to - no pun - draw a line somewhere and how far do we go?
"Places like La Zouch, that type of premises is a food-led restaurant.
"We've been led by the police and they've not made any recommendation."
Cllr Ball, a former Ashby town councillor, said he felt it would be sensible to look at the area again.
Referring to The Plough, he added: "I just don't understand why it's not included. It's a town centre pub - not a suburban pub on the outskirts of the town. It's in the town centre."
Cllr Ball said he felt the Shoulder of Mutton - Ashby's Wetherspoon bar - should also be considered as part of the CIA.
But the point was made that any delay in taking it to full council would mean drawing the CIA again from scratch.
Council officer Melanie Lee said: "We can't, without consultation, just add an outlet to the cumulative impact area.
"That doesn't mean that if it becomes problematic in future and the police raise issues or other members of the of the Community wish to raise issues, that doesn't mean it can't considered to be included in the future.
"But it certainly couldn't be included at this stage, without setting all of this procedure back."
Cllr Ball conceded that he did not want to delay the procedure.
The point was made that the council were not stopping new premises from setting up in the town centre.
Mr Cooper added: "What it effectively does is put an onus on those license holders, to specify within their applications how they're going to operate their businesses and evidence that they're not going to have a negative impact and they're going above and beyond the basics of what's required."
There was praise for the way the night-time economy in Ashby is run - with committee chair, Cllr Nigel Smith highlighting the use of CCTV.
He said: "It's absolutely fantastic.
"Some of the results that they're achieving, some of the things that they're seeing and reporting back deals with some of those issues because they're speaking to the police on the ground. Ashby also has its own nighttime wardens at the moment.
"They are partially funded through various projects, again making a massive difference from the feedback that we're having. They're patrolling, you Hood, Park, the Bath Grounds and some of those areas where there may be issues.
"If there's a premises that we feel is getting more mentions than what we would like to see, our officers are straight out there doing joint visits with the police.
"There's also been a fantastic job done on cleaning up the footpaths.
"I understand that team have got a chewing gum machine remover and we really do need to ask people to use the CCTV to try and prevent it going back to where it was because they it's it's a lovely town.
Measham councillor Paul Lees added: "I appreciate why we're having a somewhat negative discussion about Ashby, but I just want to put on record how great I think Ashby is as a as a night time economy.
"I take my family there, my wife, my kids for meals and things like that and it's just lovely. I don't feel threatened or like there's going to be a problem."
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