Seeing the smiling face of the V2 manager leering out of the Free Press must’ve been very difficult for the people of Canol y Dre and Prior Street. The on-off-on-off-on saga of the local discotheque has finally resulted in the V2 licence being restored. With it, no doubt, will come more of the same reported unpleasantness that has resulted in 15 years' worth of local complaints and the feeling that nothing is done. Residents will fear that the cuts currently under discussion by the North Wales police (including 250 experienced constables who’ve each done 30 years' service) will mean that there are fewer officers to deal with resultant problems.
On the other side of the coin, town publicans who sold ale in quantity on the back of V2 and its former incarnation (The Venue) have struggled since V2 closed. With V2 opening again comes the chance to recoup losses. Weekend sales support the rest of the week and help secure the town's historic pubs for all drinkers. And, there's no denying that younger people want to go somewhere after pub hours.
Here, then, is a true dilemma.
According to "Balance your Bobbies", the North Wales police site that encourages anyone to vote for their top policing priorities, dealing with anti-social behaviour is currently the most important issue facing local communities. Across the region, 29 per cent of people voted this as its top priority. Add drugs and alcohol issues and the figure rises to two-thirds who expressed concern. and In Rhuthun, anti-social behaviour comes out the same, top, though there were only 23 votes locally.
But, yesterday, a UK government announcement may help. If this gets to law, the government expects that local communities could have a greater say over licensing laws and, in particular, impose a "late night levy" that could help pay towards the cost of additional policing at premises known to cause problems. Where a business is benefiting commercially because of late opening, it seems reasonable that they should pay towards extra policing. This is akin to the principle of "the polluter pays" and, ultimately, the cost is passed on to the clubbers themselves, in any case.
Here, then, do we have something that can settle the argument between the opposing camps? Rather than the taxpayer picking up the burden for a service that seems to have failed to sort out the reported problems of V2, could the proposals increase the resource available to the police to level the playing field, so that the police can be more effective? A case of everyone wins and everyone smiles?
On the other side of the coin, town publicans who sold ale in quantity on the back of V2 and its former incarnation (The Venue) have struggled since V2 closed. With V2 opening again comes the chance to recoup losses. Weekend sales support the rest of the week and help secure the town's historic pubs for all drinkers. And, there's no denying that younger people want to go somewhere after pub hours.
Here, then, is a true dilemma. According to "Balance your Bobbies", the North Wales police site that encourages anyone to vote for their top policing priorities, dealing with anti-social behaviour is currently the most important issue facing local communities. Across the region, 29 per cent of people voted this as its top priority. Add drugs and alcohol issues and the figure rises to two-thirds who expressed concern. and In Rhuthun, anti-social behaviour comes out the same, top, though there were only 23 votes locally.
But, yesterday, a UK government announcement may help. If this gets to law, the government expects that local communities could have a greater say over licensing laws and, in particular, impose a "late night levy" that could help pay towards the cost of additional policing at premises known to cause problems. Where a business is benefiting commercially because of late opening, it seems reasonable that they should pay towards extra policing. This is akin to the principle of "the polluter pays" and, ultimately, the cost is passed on to the clubbers themselves, in any case.
Here, then, do we have something that can settle the argument between the opposing camps? Rather than the taxpayer picking up the burden for a service that seems to have failed to sort out the reported problems of V2, could the proposals increase the resource available to the police to level the playing field, so that the police can be more effective? A case of everyone wins and everyone smiles?
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Police