Manchester City Council seeks views on revised licensing policy

Manchester City Council is seeking the public’s views on its revised draft licensing policy covering pubs, clubs, off licences and other outlets.The new policy promises to focus efforts on tackling irresponsibly managed premises which allow drunkenness, underage drinking, public nuisance or which compromise public safety.

The leader of Manchester City Council, Sir Richard Leese, underlines the revised document by saying they will not tolerate premises that sell alcohol to drunk or underage people.

Also included in the draft policy are plans to set up licensing forums in the north, south and centre of the city to encourage clearer communication and collaboration.

These forums will encourage dialogue between licensed premises, local residents and businesses and will allow any concerns to be shared with Manchester City Council.

The revised strategy recognises that Manchester can have a vibrant night-time economy without compromising its stance on public safety and nuisance, crime reduction and child protection.

The City Council is legally bound to review its licensing policy which came in under the Licensing Act 2003, freeing up pub opening times among a raft of other changes. This is the first of a series of three-yearly reviews, but the policy may be reviewed at any time.

The City Council regulates more than 1900 licensed premises and its licensing policy covers pubs, bars, nightclubs, members’ clubs, restaurants, shops, supermarkets, off licences, takeaways, restaurants, late night cafes, concert halls, theatres, cinemas, sports arenas, church halls and streets and squares including the popular Christmas fares in Albert Square.

Now the draft document is going out for public consultation in a 12-week period between now and November 1. The draft document is available on the City Council website, www.manchester.gov.uk/licensing/act, and will also be available at local libraries.

The City Council will also take in the views of licence holders, the police and fire authority as well as businesses and residents.

The deputy leader of Manchester City Council, Councillor Jim Battle, said: “Those who manage their premises well and play a purely positive role have nothing to fear from this policy. However, we will not tolerate premises that damage our communities through selling alcohol to drunk or underage people, who compromise the safety of our citizens or who fail to prevent their premises causing a nuisance to the communities in which they are based.”

The City Council’s policy supports the Government’s national strategy on alcohol and works alongside its own strategies on crime reduction, regeneration, transport, culture, planning and tourism. The new licensing strategy will cover the period 2008 to 2011.

Big Lottery Funding for Manchester Healthy Living Centres

The North West Network for Healthy Living Partnerships has been successful in obtaining £7m of funding from the Big Lottery’s Wellbeing fund. Debra Person Co-ordinator for ZEST in North Manchester and Val Little Health Improvement Manager for South Manchester Healthy Living Network have been working with a small planning group lead by Stockport Resource Consultancy for the past year to put the bid together. The money will help to deliver a range of projects across 27 Healthy Living Centre Initiatives across the North West region over the next five years.

The three Manchester healthy living centres including ZEST, South Manchester Healthy Living Network and BLOOM in central area will be funded up to £50K per year for five years to deliver a range of local initiatives including:

Healthy eating programmes, weight management programmes, developing fruit and veg growing opportunities and supporting local families in South, North and central Manchester. They will also work closely with statutory and voluntary sector building on existing projects and supporting the work which has already been going on.

They will work in partnership by sharing good practice both across Manchester and the North West. Work has already started within the PCT, a planning group consisting of PCT and statutory and voluntary agencies will be steering some of the projects for the next five years and beyond.

If you would like any further information or would like to get involved please contact;
Val Little 0161 217 3667 or Debra Pearson 1061 655 7889

North West at the heart of strategy for rail growth

Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly has announced a capacity increase of 41 per cent for peak hour commuter trains serving Manchester to meet the expected demand for rail travel.

Extra carriages will be provided to lengthen many trains through Manchester and Liverpool operated by Trans Pennine Express, with a 30 per cent increase in capacity on the north Trans-Pennine route. The enhancements are planned from 2009, with all the extra capacity in place by 2014.

Network Rail has been asked to tackle bottlenecks affecting the region by 2014. As a result, journey times between Liverpool and Manchester will be reduced to 40 minutes and fast services between Manchester and Leeds cut to 43 minutes.

Bolton and Chester stations are likely to be among a list of 150 stations nationwide that will be refurbished to become more accessible and attractive to passengers, at a total cost of £150 million.

The announcement is part of the Government’s plans to ensure that the national rail network can carry at least 180 million more passengers a year.

Ms Kelly also announced that the Government will continue to limit fare increases under its control (including standard season tickets and savers) to no more than one per cent above inflation. A new simplified fares structure will introduce just four basic ticket types across the country, ticket retailing will be streamlined to reduce ticket office queue’s and station access and passenger information improved.

The White Paper, Delivering a Sustainable Railway, is published by the Department for Transport and available from its website at http://www.dft.gov.uk

CN4M Grants panel members needed

CN4M are looking for panel members who maybe interested in joining a pool of people working with Community Network 4 Manchester’s new grants program CN4M Grants.

They are particularly keen to get representation from the different communities of interest as well as from different geographical areas within the City of Manchester reflecting the diversity within the area.

You will have the satisfaction of helping distribute significant amounts of European money to support worthwhile community and voluntary activity across the City.

It will give you a fascinating insight into the diversity and range of voluntary and community activity going on in the City, and an opportunity to learn or develop skills in assessing projects and working as a team to make the best decisions.

Panel meetings are held centrally, in an accessible building and refreshments will be provided. Out of pocket expenses will be paid for travel, childcare etc.

If you are interested, please contact Sajida Sabir at the CN4M Grants Office on 0161 234 2905 or sajida@cn4m.net