Saturation: councils face rude awakening'

Trade issues warning as 40% of councils plan saturation policy

by John Harringtonand Tony Halstead

Local authorities could face a string of expensive legal challenges if they attempt to use "saturation zones" as a blanket ban on new licensed premises opening in town and city centres.

Trade groups have warned councils that they could be in for a rude awakening if they attempt to use the new legislation without the necessary evidence and statistics to back their case for opposing individual applications.

The warning comes as fourin 10 local authorities includesaturation clauses in their draft licensing policies now open for public consultation. A number of prominent authorities, including Westminster, Nottingham, Oxford and Newcastle, have already decided to introduce a block on new city centre pubs and bars, with others set to follow.

Alistair Turnham from QA Research, which studied different licensing policies by interviewing 234 of the 376 councils, said there was a wide variation of approach to saturation policies from different councils. While some, such as Westminster and Camden, have made great efforts to gather evidence on which to base a saturation policy, others have done little.

One council, he said, simply stated "we have a saturation policy" on its draft licensing. "The variation is incredible," he added.

Mark Hastings of the British Beer & Pub Association added: "The Licensing Act makes it clear that applications are to be judged on a case-by-case basis.

"If councils continue to operate policies which fall outside the Act, they will face the consequences through the courts."

Chief executive of the Yates Group Mark Jones said it was clear local authorities were talking to each other on licensing issues via a sophisticated grapevine.

"I think there will be an increasing number of councils going down the saturation road and in some towns I would agree with them. But in others, there is less of a case but I do not feel there is any need for a blanket ban on new premises," he said.

Dame Sally Power, chair of the Safer Communities Board at the Local Government Association, said saturation zones was a measure they lobbied hard for in the Licensing Bill.

"We have a number of local authorities who did not want their towns and city centre flooded with licensed premises."

Other authorities, including Barnet, feel market forces will eventually dictate the number of licensed premises in town centres.

"We are discussing the issue with police but we do not necessarily think the council needs to issue edicts," said Barnet's head of licensing policy Brian Salinger.

Association of Chief Police Officers licensing spokesman Chief Supt Steve Green, Chief Constable of Nottingham, also backs saturation zones. "I am not satisfied the industry will restrain itself because the intention is to make a profit," he claimed.

Evidence must be backed by facts and figures

Although the new Licensing Act allows councils to declare saturation zones, the legislation also requires them to provide clear evidence that new pubs or clubs would add to problems of disorder or rowdiness in given areas.

Applicants themselves would have to prove the addition of new premises would be beneficial and provide a new or different service to existing outlets.

Jon Collins, chief executive of the Bar Entertainment & Dance Association, said: "A number of authorities are including some fairly robust licensing policies which includes saturation issues. But objections to new licensing applications cannot be mounted on a hunch and will have to be backed by proper facts and figures. They would have to provide evidence to show there would be disorder relative to a sheer number of premises.

"If they think introducing a saturation policy is a short cut to pulling the shutters down on new premises, they are in for a rude awakening."