• YOUR readers may recall that earlier this year the CNJ carried articles about Camden Council’s evening and night-time assembly and the resulting evening and night-time strategy.

One of the concerns discussed by the assembly was a significant reduction in the number of licensed premises in Camden. It is therefore interesting to see that home office has now published statistics that say precisely the opposite.

The number of premises licences in the borough increased 13 per cent from 1,809 to 2,040 between 2016/17 and 2023/24. This is the opposite of what the assembly appears to have been told.

No one denies that licensed premises are suffering from increased costs, the impact of the cost of living crisis on their customers and a shortage of staff.

The council’s preferred way of supporting them seems to be to make it easier for them to stay open later, selling more alcohol and risking more crime, disorder, anti-social behaviour and nuisance in the streets of Camden into the early morning.

Camden’s new licensing policy proposal will be put before the licensing committee in a few weeks. We understand it will remove the “cumulative impact” policies that currently require premises in Camden Town and Seven Dials to think about how they will mitigate their impacts.

It will also allow some extension of hours all across the borough, although not the two-hours extension which was originally proposed in January.

We all want to support these businesses, but this cannot be at the expense of the lives of residents who live in the vicinity of them.

We ask that Camden’s licensing committee keeps the current framework hours and consults on a cumulative impact assessment, rather than decide that there isn’t any.

Residents, and the police, believe the opposite.

DAVID KANER
Volunteer Chair
Licensing Sub-Committee
Covent Garden Community Association