Reading Barlow & Drinking

Could be a poor choice of title.

Vic was in classic form this week in the express.

I especially liked this piece about drunken louts. FTA:

"Macclesfield Borough Council should be proud. They approved every license changing the town centre into an oasis for binge drinkers"

I've said it before, and I'll no doubt say it again - this is part of the problem that we have with drinking. The proximity of a large number of establishments in the centre is a problem for three specific reasons. It encourages people to move on - which means finishing the drink that you may normally keep for another half an hour to buy another next door (evidentially good news for the landlords), it means that we have too many people in a small area, and it means that there is no community atmosphere within a particular establishment (something that would encourage people to behave better).

But I understand that MBC are limited in what they can refuse. As we have also seen with planning recently, central government has established a policy of "acceptance" with the committee having to come up with really good reasons to refuse. And if you do refuse a second roundabout, perhaps you end up with an appeal and court action.

Something which will be paid for by our council tax, and therefore is not ideal.

However there's a couple of problems with the picture that Barlow is trying to paint. It gives the impression that Macc town centre is a cocophany of identical plastic establishments all with the intention of piling 'em high and selling 'em cheap.

This isn't true.

We actually have quite a diverse range of establishments. You've got the Wetherspoons which is cheap and not particularly great (you know what you're getting with a 'spoons), through to places like Mezzaluna which are far more upmarket with a much more mature atmosphere. But then Mezzaluna don't serve any decent beer, so why not visit Jar Bar for a pint of Jeckles Gold with trendy decor, or go for the Prince of Wales if you want a pub that's more like.....well you know, a pub.

It's a town centre which, in the evening, is appealing to a large age range and a large demographic of drinker. Should we lose this just because a couple of louts can't behave?

Nope, we should just ensure that getting picked up for drunk and disorderly gets you a little more than a £50 fine (they probably spent more than that get leathered in the first place).

£500 would be more appropriate.