80% of licensed premises in Sheffield looking to alter hours - many residents in the dark

9.56.31am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 11th Aug 2005

8 out of 10 licensed premises in Sheffield have applied to vary their hours.

The Liberal Democrats in Sheffield have revealed that 80% of licensed premises in Sheffield are applying to alter their current hours as part of the Governments 24-hour licence policy. Many residents could be left in the dark over proposed changes in their local area.

Lib Dems are concerned at the quantity of venues looking for extra hours, and the implications that pubs, clubs and takeaways staying open for longer will have for local communities. Lib Dems believe that, due to both a lack of notification from the Council and the sheer quantity of applications, local residents will not realise that a local premise is applying for extra hours until it is too late to lodge any formal objection.

At the moment local residents and local councillors are made aware of proposals to change hours through signs near the premises and adverts in the local media. But hundreds of premises have applied for new licensees and there have already been some examples of local communities being unhappy with proposals for their local area.

Lib Dems believe that the controversial Government policy has not been thought through, and that the people of Sheffield and licensees could suffer the consequences when the policy unravels over the next few months.

Cllr David Baker

Cllr David Baker, Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet member for Planning and Economic Regeneration, said: -

"Eight in ten pubs, clubs and takeaways who are applying for a licence are wishing to vary their hours. This could spell trouble for many local communities for many different reasons, but we feel that local residents are not being sufficiently informed of applications"

"Applications for extended hours will get nodded through if no objections are raised. As the Council only notifies residents through adverts in the local media and small signs on the premises in question, many of these applications could slip through with residents being kept in the dark"

"The net result of all this is that a few months down the line communities across Sheffield could be faced with localised problems. We have already seen some residents in Sheffield unhappy with the implications of new licenses, I fear the problem will get much worse as the people of Sheffield face the full implications of this Governments short-sighted policy"