Trade calls for ADZ review
Trade leaders have urged the Government to review the need for Alcohol Disorder Zones (ADZs).
Four trade bodies - Wine and Spirit Trade Association, British Beer and Pub Association, British Retail Consortium and Bar Entertainment and Dance Association - wrote to the Home Office minister Tony McNulty last week in a bid to delay the implementation of ADZs and force a review of the need for legislation.
The Government has told us they need to revisit the guidance again and we are still no clearer as to how ADZs will work in practiceWSTA chief executive Jeremy Beadles.
The scheme would force pubs and clubs in an ADZ to pay a levy for extra policing and street cleaning.
"ADZs are fundamentally flawed and the policy issues are still not resolved," said WSTA chief executive Jeremy Beadles. "The Government has told us they need to revisit the guidance again and we are still no clearer as to how ADZs will work in practice.
"We have today called on the Home Office to review the need for this legislation which was drawn up in haste before the last general election and before the Licensing Act was implemented.
"The Industry is committing itself to developing still further Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) which have already quadrupled since ADZs were first mooted. BIDs are now playing a major part in transforming many of our urban centres. We do not think that there is any place for such regressive legislation such as ADZs and believe that the need has passed even before they have been implemented."
