Brighton residents and traders discussed whether to bring in tough controls to combat drink-fuelled crime and antisocial behaviour at a lively meeting last night.
The St James’s Area Local Action Team decided against designating the area as an alcohol disorder zone (ADZ).
Green councillor Ben Duncan, who is also standing for Parliament in the Brighton Kemptown constituency, wanted the tougher regime in place.
But licensees and Sussex Police do not believe that the street – which is Brighton’s most heavily policed – has severe enough problems to warrant changing its status.
Alcohol disorder zones give the police the power to charge pubs and clubs for extra policing that trouble caused by their customers require.
The packed meeting last night came to an overwhelming conclusion “to reject the idea of an ADZ and not to reconsider the decision for at least another 12 months”.
Chris Cooke, who chairs the St James’s Area LAT, said: “Personally, I am pleased that we can now draw a line under this whole issue of the ADZ and move on.
“The ADZ was totally unnecessary for the St James’s area and I am glad my views are shared by the vast majority of residents.”
At the meeting the LAT did, however, agree to set up a small working group to look into the specific problem of noise nuisance due to the many people entering and leaving the area on their way to and from bars in the neighbourhood.
The working group will report back their findings at the next main LAT meeting on Wednesday 12 May.
