This Cumulative Impact Policy applies approximately to Burys Historic Core

Zone, i.e. from Westgate St, north to Abbeygate St; and Crown St, west to
Guildhall St.

No fewer than 693 electors plus children live in this area; yet it includes 62
licences listed on the boroughs Licensing Act Register 34 of which relate
to active premises that close between midnight and 2am, with two 24 hour
licences. That is why the area has the potential for negative cumulative
impact.

The CIPolicy has been amended: now it will only apply to proposals for
premises to be open after 11pm or those whose primary purpose is alcohol
consumption. Therefore any new day or early evening establishment,
where drinking alcohol is a subsidiary activity (including many restaurants)
will not even be obliged to adhere to the Policy.

It is a myth that a Cumulative Impact Policy prevents all new licences. Only
those applications for use after 11pm, or for premises where drinking is the
primary purpose, and for which valid objections are received, are affected.
Those applicants will need to address the CIPolicy within their operating
schedules, and may need to propose appropriate conditions to reduce
adverse impact, such as an earlier closing time, the provision of doormen,
a sound limiter, or whatever.

This renewal is a scaled-down version of the policy which has applied from
2008 to now, during which time the town has flourished, with several new
bars and restaurants in the CIPolicy area open until late.

Furthermore, since 2008 not a single application is known to have been
turned down nor applicant deterred. But some have had to more carefully
consider their operating schedules to protect residents and that is what
gives residents comfort. They will not object to reasonable applications, for
example the new restaurants in Abbeygate Street; but they know that a
new vertical drinking bar open until 3.30 am will probably not be allowed
in, say Whiting or Hatter St, in the way that it has been elsewhere in the
town.



Paul Farmer MBE
30 June 2014