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Islington council is cracking down on the licensing of further pubs, clubs and off-licences in an effort to curb anti-social and criminal behaviour.
Over 1300 Islington premises are licensed to sell alcohol, a figure which Mildmay councillor and Chair of the Licensing Committee Joe Callouri, linked to the rise in crime and anti-social behaviour.
He said: “We need to get on top of it [anti-social behaviour] and the only way that we do that is by being tough of licenses.”
Mr Calouri blames the crime surge on two factors: a lack of a distinct licensing policy by the previous Lib-Dem council, and Islington’s increasing status as a nighttime hot spot.
“We’re saturated,” Mr Calouri said on the number of clubs and pubs.
Mr Calouri added that previous national legislation “wasn’t used particularly harshly by the Liberal Democrats…they were just quite happy to let it tick over.
“I think there is something a bit trendy about Islington that makes it a sort of cultural site and a destination to go to. Islington wasn’t all that fashionable to go to 20 years ago.”
For now, the council will be looking to stop any further growth in the number of pubs and clubs in highly affected areas through the licensing committee.
Mr Calouri said: “Where people aren’t behaving well and aren’t managing their license well, we should be cracking down more.
“The reason that we aren’t doing loads more is because of resources”
Mr Calouri blamed local problems on national decision making.
“There’s no resources for anything. We might have a fund resettlement in 2015-2016 that could be £4 million less than we think. It could be really bad,” he said.
