Nottingham City Council is reviewing restrictions which limit the number of new places being able to open and sell alcohol.
Currently, there is a ”Saturation Zone’ limit on new premises opening in Nottingham City Centre and the Berridge, Arboretum and Radford parts of the city.
The council is expected to retain the rules, but must review the terms by 9 October, 2021 to consider whether the same zones continue to operate.
The Saturation Zones do not prevent any person from making an application to open a new bar, nightclub, restaurant, or off-licence but each application is dealt with on ‘its own merits’.
The zones are not “a total ban” on licensed premises but to limit the impact they pose on communities in terms of violent crime and anti-social behaviour.
Recent figures show there are approximately 429 premises selling or supplying alcohol in the city centre zone – an increase of around 22 percent since 2018.
Nottinghamshire Police have stated a case to the city council to keep the saturation zones in place.
The force said that while violent crime fell in 2020/21 because of the Covid pandemic, Nottingham still has the fifth highest level of recorded violence per 1,000 population as of July 2021 behind Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Leeds.
Police said the greatest monthly reductions in violence in the city centre directly correlate to periods when licenced premises were closed due to Covid restrictions.
Inspector Paul Gummer, in charge of the city centre, said: “It can be seen therefore that the number and capacity of licenced premises in the city centre directly affect the levels of violence.
“A large proportion of incidents of assault, disorder, criminal damage and drunkenness that take place in city centre licensed premises are associated with a number of ‘repeat premises.’
“The number of officers available to police the city centre on a Friday or Saturday night is limited and resources have to be balanced against other competing needs throughout the force area.
“Additional vertical drinking establishments will make our job much more difficult especially if we see an influx of larger volume premises, namely those with over 400 capacity.
“Demand will be created, of the sort which arguably will cause alcohol related issues rather than culturally enrich the city.”
Despite the saturation zones in place, police told the council that people’s ‘pre-drinking behaviour’ meant there was now a rise in incidents between 1am and 4am.
Inspector Gummer said: “The effects of preloading (where alcohol is purchased cheaply from off licences and supermarkets and used for the purchaser to start to drink before entering other licensed premises) is not unique to Nottingham but impacts on both Saturation Zones.
“The ‘off licences’ cater for an increasing trend in “preloading” and in part provide the fuel for the street drinkers in Nottingham.
“It is the ‘pre-loading’ phenomenon that is thought to have caused the reduction in early evening incidents as users of the city centre now arrive later in the evening having already consumed large quantities of alcohol.
“Students are responsible for a high proportion of alcohol seizures, many of these taking place within the Lenton area of Nottingham which falls within the Berridge, Arboretum and Radford Saturation Zone.
“The presence of a large number of off licences in both Saturation Zones has increased the prevalence of pre-loading, on street drinking and also the antisocial behaviour associated with it.
“Another factor that contributes to city centre violence and disorder is late-night fast-food outlets.
“It is the experience of the police that when people leave late night premises, a significant proportion tend not to leave the city centre immediately.
“They congregate at fast food outlets and the queues at those premises become flash points for disorder and violence. McDonalds at Angel Row and Clumber Street appear to have the highest level of violence, compared to similar premises.”
Police also want to keep the saturation zone in Berridge, the Arboretum and Radford, where there is currently 49 premises identified as off-licences.
Police said: “Where alcohol related anti-social behaviour has come about an individual has visited (usually a local) shop in the area, purchased alcohol and then gone on to drink it locally and subsequently cause anti-social behaviour or environmental littering by throwing the cans or bottles away in the streets, parks and public areas.
“Alcohol related anti-social behaviour is a major concern within this Saturation Zone linked to both the high concentration of off-licensed premises in the area and the high numbers of students and vulnerable persons who live in the area and patronise those premises.
“ASB incidences within Radford have increased by over 100 per cent during 2020/21 – coinciding with the introduction of COVID-19 mitigations.”
Nottingham City Council’s Licensing Authority is now under a statutory duty to review its policy and consider whether it still holds the same opinion.
The retention of the existing Saturation Zones has been requested, and evidenced, by both Nottinghamshire Police and the Council’s Community Protection Team.
If approved and accepted it will be in place for a further three years.
