Bangor Publicans Set to take the Lead!
In an innovative and progressive manner, Bangor town centre publicans are joining forces to collectively “ban” those individuals convicted of criminal and anti-social behaviour in the town centre from entering their premises. The scheme is innovative in that it uses a property owners existing civil right to refuse entry for appropriate reasons.
BAND is a progressive step forward in that as a group the publicans are becoming the first in Northern Ireland to use such a scheme that has been tried and tested in England to great affect for some time.
Supporting the enforcement and implementation of BAND, PSNI Inspector Andrew: Culbert said: “The PSNI have been working very closely with all the partners in BAND and I am confident that it will show results. We will be monitoring how it is implemented and working in close support with the publicans where necessary. Bangor is a safe place to have a night out and this just reinforces the message that working together the publicans and police will not tolerate irresponsible behaviour.”
Proprietor of Wolsey’s Bar and Restaurant in Bangor’s High Street, Martin Wolsey voiced support for the scheme. “I was one of a group that journeyed over to Burnley to see the scheme in action and I was most impressed. Although our statistics are nowhere near the levels suffered in Burnley we felt the scheme had strengths and sent out the right message to would be troublemakers – don’t come to Bangor! We want our residents and visitors to come down to the town centre and have a good time and not be troubled by individuals that can’t behave responsibly. It only takes one irresponsible idiot to wreck a good night out for many and Bangor will not tolerate such behaviour.”
BAND is now being put in place with the help of the town centre management company, North Down Borough Council, PSNI and the Community Safety Partnership. Following research in similar locations such as Burnley in England, the evidence showed that criminal behaviour could be reduced by certain persistent offenders being removed from the town centre by “banning orders”.
Cllr John Montgomery Chair of the Community Safety Partnership, said: “The scheme has been very well researched and I am confident that it will show dividends to the safety of the community as they venture into the town centre at night. Every town centre around the UK has problems with anti-social behaviour and Bangor is simply saying that it won’t put up with it. I am very pleased that the Community Safety Partnership can step in and create a worthwhile partnership and help fund a solution to an issue the town wants to improve upon.”
Individuals convicted of certain acts such as assault and criminal damage will receive an order from the PSNI advising them that they have been banned from all town centre licensed premises for a period as decided by the collective group of publicans. This could mean a ban of up to three years. A breach of the “exclusion order” will lead to an anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) being served. This in turn creates a record of the behaviour that will be reported to the magistrate.
When asked about the economic benefits to the town centre, Stephen Dunlop, Town Centre Manager made the comment: “A number of partnership schemes have been put in place over the last few years that collectively have changed the nature of Bangor’s evening economy. We now have trained door supervisors, a radio link scheme, CCTV and now BAND. Most importantly we have a positive group of partners that work together and not against each other. It is a curious thing that we now have more restaurants in the town centre than pubs. It makes for a more mature customer base and this is a good thing. It also creates more jobs. Historically we had a number of outsiders coming in, having little loyalty or respect. This has changed and now the bulk of business is local business and with good service and value it is sustainable and a more dependable basis for establishing a long-term business. Clearly residents are more confident in using the town centre at night and that is good for everyone.”
BAND is now operating in all of Bangor’s town centre pubs and is likely to be expanded in the longer term to cover off-licences, hot food carry outs, taxi offices and any other business that may suffer the detrimental effects of irresponsible behaviour.
