Back to the drawing board (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Back to the drawing board

Ref. 29125-4Plans are being drawn up to introduce more restaurants and coffee shops in Swindon town centre to break-up the high number of pubs. GILES SHELDRICK reports.

TOWN planners have admitted wall-to-wall pubs and bars in the centre of Swindon was never the way to go.

And the New Swindon Company the organisation charged with kick-starting the renaissance of Swindon town centre has said a change of culture must start now.

The Fleet Street Bridge Street axis is a honey pot for as many as 6,000 weekend revellers, but with that come the inevitable problems of drunkenness, assaults and criminal damage, as new figures reveal.

One of Swindon's most senior police officers, Inspector Dave McMullin, has said it is common for officers to break up drunken fights in the centre of town while a crowd of 300 people jeer and taunt them.

The latest licensing report reveals that police arrested nearly double the number of people for being drunk and disorderly in 2003 than they did in 2001.

Last year police arrested 287 people for drunk and disorderly behaviour compared to 108 in 2002 and 154 in 2001.

In addition, police arrested 97 people for being drunk and incapable in 2003, 59 in 2002 and 86 in 2001 and prosecuted 168 people for drunkenness in 2003, 70 in 2002 and 101 in 2001.

And the number of assaults on police officers has almost doubled in two years from 55 in 2001 to 105 last year.

Inspector McMullin said: "Fleet Street, Fleet Square, John Street and Bridge Street is obviously the focus of evening activity and often a catalyst for disorder.

"Officers responsible for the policing of the town centre have noticed an appreciable rise in the incidents of public disorder over the past 12 months.

"The estimated number of drunken brawls which are dealt with by officers separating the parties concerned during their patrols accounts for approximately 30 per cent of the public order incidents they deal with."

The Walkabout bar, Edwards and the Lava Lounge all have late licences and in November last year The Casbah in John Street was one of the first bars in the country to be granted a non-stop public entertainment licence to stay open 24 hours a day. It is not however allowed to serve alcohol after 2am.

Now planners have promised a rethink of the way Swindon's centre is planned in the future, with an emphasis on residential accommodation and not pub and bar culture.

Rosemary Wells, business director of the New Swindon Company, said: "Swindon is probably not a lot different from a number of major towns that have seen a growth in popularity of themed bars and pubs.

"However, it would appear this popularity and concentration in confined town centre areas has brought with it an increase in street violence and disorderliness.

"We believe we have enough of these types of establishments in the town centre and would now like to see a wider range of leisure facilities such as restaurants and coffee shops to appeal to a much broader community.

"And this view seems to be supported by the public. When we carried out public consultation on regeneration ideas last year we got a very clear message from a number of Swindon residents that they don't want any more bars and pubs in the centre of Swindon."

There are currently some 25 clubs, pubs and bars in the town centre and police estimate that up to 6,000 people can congregate in and around this area at the weekends.

Planning committee vice-chairman Maurice Fanning (Lab, Gorse Hill and Pinehurst) said: "We have made mistakes in the past and we will learn from them. When I came here in the 1960s Old Town was the lively venue for young people but times change.

"I think it's an unfair criticism to say the planning committee would rather put a pub or bar up than see a premises stand empty. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and may be a more mixed development at the bottom of town would have been better personally I don't know how all those pubs and bars survive."

While the number of new pubs and bars has not risen appreciably in recent years Swindon planners have granted ten applications in the past five years Swindon police licensing officer, Geoff Hicks, blames the rise in the number of special hours certificates, which have been successfully applied at the magistrates court, for generating alcohol-related problems.

He said: "A special hours certificate means pubs and bars can turn themselves into venues that close at 1am or 2am this undoubtedly makes the problem worse because there are more venues where people can drink early into the morning.

"The centre of the town is a honey pot mainly because of the bright lights, loud music and drinks promotions but traditionally people have always migrated there. The trouble is that we have so many licensed premises in the centre of town and two-thirds of them are open well past 11pm.

"People today stay out longer, consume more alcohol and it affects them. But the truth is that the town centre has become more busy as the town has grown."

Elizabeth Stevens of the Bedroom Bar in Fleet Street is chairman of the Swindon Pub Watch scheme.

She said: "There has been a marked changed over the past two years every night there is trouble in the street because of drinking and Friday and Saturday nights are especially bad.

"There is not enough policing in the town centre, everyone has got security, but there is only so much that pubs and bars can do. It's got to the stage that is Swindon are playing at home I will not let my 16-year-old daughter go into town because the problems are so bad.

"Every week you see someone being beaten up and taken away in an ambulance and something needs to be done."

Swindon Council's planning chairman, Lisa Hawkes (Con, Highworth), said: "Without a doubt there are lessons to be learned from past planning grants in the centre of Swindon. In the past we have made decisions made on planning guidance of that time, but as time and priorities change we have to change with them. I think we now need to seriously look at a balance of traders in the area."

l Later this week the Evening Advertiser will report how new licensing laws will attempt to change drinking culture in the country. The Licensing Act 2003 is designed to tackle binge drinking and anti-social behaviour by discouraging happy hours. It also gives local authorities powers to decide on which establishments can sell alcohol 24 hours a day.

Giles Sheldrick