Street Drinking Update

This evening Cllr Parnell and I met with Council Officers from the Licencing and Trading Standards Departments and with members of the local Police. 

We met to discuss the problem of street drinking in and around Shirley Road and Shirley High Street. This is a problem I have been highlighting consistently for the past 2 years as I get regular complaints from local residents.

I have raised the matter in Full Council meetings, the media and at the city's Safer City Partnership.

Tonight's meeting was the second of a number of meetings that are being held to look at possible solutions to the problem. The matter is now being taken very seriously. The Police are planning to be a lot more robust in challenging street drinking, new signs are going to be put up, the police have recruited some local Polish volunteers to help communicate the message that street drinking should not be taking place, and a range of licencing proposals are being considered which should have a positive effect. 

Sadly the city council has just granted another alcohol licence in Shirley Road. On the plus side the licence comes with a string of new conditions - for instance banning the sale of single cans of beer, which the police feel will make substantial difference. I am hopeful that these conditions can start to be applied to other existing off licences in the area.

Action Needed to Tackle Street Drinking in Shirley Road

In Howard Road with a huge pile of beer cans - one example of evidence of street drinking 

I am calling for tough new licencing rules to be brought in to restrict further off licences and shops selling alcohol on Shirley Road and Shirley High St and the roads nearby. 

I recently told the Southern Daily Echo: "The pubs are well managed in the area but there are so many off licences there and we don’t need any more. It’s intimidating when you walk down the road and see people drinking beer in the streets from early in the morning until late at night and urinating in the alleyways and it brings the area down."

I am asking that the Police and the City Council's licencing team look at the introduction of a new 'Cumulative Impact Licencing Policy' which will make it much harder for new off licences to be approved and for existing ones to extend their operating hours. 

I will put the request to a meeting of the city's Safe City Partnership later this month. I am also calling on the police to use their powers to confiscate alcohol from those seen drinking in the street.  

Update 21/04/13: I am attending the Safer City Partnership on 25th April to present my concerns to the Police, the City Council and other local partners.

Park Hotel Building To Stay

The Park Hotel Today

For some years the Park Hotel in Shirley Road has been empty and boarded up, with local residents uncertain about the future of the building. Owners, Orchard Homes have been unable to reopen it as a pub and possible options for the site have included pulling it down and building a block of modern flats or a convenience store with flats above. Neither option is popular with local residents, nor is leaving the building empty, as it has become a bit of an eyesore. There was also a fire recently and there are concerns that it may happen again.

Residents and Councillors have met with directors from Orchard Homes on two occasions to see if an agreement could be reached about how the site might be redeveloped. The most popular choice was to see the building retained and converted to residential use and last week Orchard Homes presented some architects plans to the Freemantle Triangle Residents Association. The plans would see the outer walls and roof of the building retained and a second floor added to the single story part of the building fronting onto Shirley Road. 

As a local councillor I often find myself opposing inappropriate planning applications. It is a rare but welcome thing to have a developer making the effort not just to engage with the local community but also to come up with a design that is sympathetic to the neighbourhood and its heritage. 

My grandfather used to drink in the Park Hotel in the 1950s and 60s. It was managed for a while by my former colleague on the Council, Matthew Dean and I have spent many an evening there over the years. including helping clean it out when Matt first moved in. I think it would be a dreadful shame to see it bulldozed and I am very encouraged by the plans put forward by Orchard Homes. 

I found this old advert for the Park Hotel in a Southampton football programme from August 1963. It shows the old organ and the bar. I hope that the building can be saved and I will be supporting Orchard Homes' planning application when it is submitted. 

The Park Hotel 50 years ago (click to enlarge)

           

UPDATE: Orchard Homes have now submitted their planning application which can be seen here.

Tougher Licencing Rules Needed Locally

Residents living in and off of Shirley Road are getting increasingly concerned about the amount of street drinking, the amount of bottles and cans dumped in the street and the numbers of licenced premises (shops and off licences) springing up in the area. I am getting more and more complaints and in recent years I believe that the situation has gotten out of hand. Action is need to curb the number of new licenced premises - enough is enough. 

I have written the Southampton District Police Commander and to the Chairman of the City Council's licencing panel calling for tougher licencing rules to be introduced. A few years ago the Council brought in a new licencing policy (called a Cumulative Impact Policy) in parts of the town centre, Bedford Place and Bevois Valley. This policy shifts the emphasis onto applicants for new alcohol licences, requiring them to demonstrate that they will not add to existing problems in the area. 

I am pleased to say that I have had encouraging feedback from the council's licencing department and the chairman of the licencing panel has agreed to work with the police to see if a tougher policy can be introduced locally. I will keep residents updated with any progress.

Street Drinking Crackdown

Your local Councillors have met with the police to highlight the growing problem of street drinking along Shirley Road and Shirley High Street and the roads that branch off them.


Some time ago we passed a city wide ban on street drinking. We feel that this needs to be enforced in Shirley. 


We are very pleased that the police agreed to do more to tackle the problem and we are ensuring that signs go up to make it clear that it is not allowed.


If you have a problem with street drinking where you live please let us know so that we can address it.


- Cllrs Jeremy Moulton, Michael Ball and Brian Parnell

Tackling Anti Social Behaviour in Freemantle

The City Council has received a number of complaints from residents regarding street drinking and associated anti-social behaviour in Shirley Road.

Southampton City Council and the Police have taken a range of actions to tackle anti-social behaviour in the area. Having been informed of the problems, this is what the council did:

- Increased police patrols in the area and used powers to seize alcohol.
- Identified those responsible for the problems and warned them about their behaviour.
- Removed a bench they were using a place to congregate.
- Visited local off licences and asked them not to serve to the main instigators of the problems in the area.

The council will continue to monitor the situation and take further action to deal with any further concerns that are raised.

If you have any questions about what has been done or would like to speak to someone about this or any other issues that are affecting you, please do not hesitate to contact us in the Safer Communities Team on 023 8083 2013.

To report a new or un-related problem of anti-social behaviour:

Call: 0845 045 45 45 Hampshire Constabulary
101 Non-emergency Police number

Go online: www.southampton.gov.uk
www.hampshire.police.uk

Planning Meeting 19th June

As well as deciding the new name for the road in Banister Park, the Planning Panel will consider a number of planning applications when it meets on 19th June. Click HERE for the report.

There is one Freemantle application. This is 14-20 Shirley Road (REF 07/00458/FUL). I posted on this particular site back in January. The application is for 12 one bedroom flats and 1 two bedroom flat. No parking is to be provided.

It was at this meeting that the application for the Gypsy Transit site at Monks Brook was to be heard. The Monks Brook application will now be heard on 20th June at 6:30pm at a special meeting in the Council Chamber. This is so that as many people as possible can attend and speak at the meeting.

Matt Dean Selected to Contest Shirley Ward

Shirley Conservatives have selected local publican Matt Dean to contest the Shirley Ward at the local elections in May.

I think this is excellent news! Matt is a very experienced local politician and will make a fine councillor. Matt owns the Park Hotel in Shirley Road (actually in Freemantle Ward) and has been a tremendous help to me over the years with my council work.

If elected Matt will take over from Councillor Richard Forbes. Richard has served as a councillor for the past 4 years and has been a very diligent and hardworking representative for the local community.

Shirley Road Needle Exchange Not To Go Ahead

Earlier this month city planners gave the green light for a drug treatment centre at 14-20 Shirley Road. The Society of St James was granted planning permission for a new drop in service for drug users in Southampton.

Cllr Brian Parnell and I met with the Society of St James to discuss the application in advance of the planning meeting. We raised lots of concerns such as whether it was a suitable location, whether it would mean increased drug litter in the area and where it would increase dealing in the area. We received some very reassuring answers to our questions.

The site would have catered for the City's 1,400 hard drugs users. However the landlord of 14-20 Shirley Road has decided against using the premises for this purpose and so it will not now go ahead. The Society will now search for an alternative site.