Nightlife campaigners in Bristol, organised as Save Bristol Nightlife, are urging the city council to scrap its Cumulative Impact Assessment, a policy in place until March 7, 2027 that lets the council refuse new licenses for clubs, pubs and bars in certain areas simply because it judges there is already enough nightlife there, Mixmag reported, citing the Bristol Post.
The council has opened a consultation on the policy's future, timing campaigners have criticised since it falls over the summer, after students have left the city. Save Bristol Nightlife also called the consultation's wording "strangely and negatively worded."
The council maintains the policy is "not a ban on new licences, and each licence application must still be looked at on its own merits," arguing it exists to curb the congregations of people it says cause crime, anti-social behaviour, noise and litter in certain areas. An applicant can still be granted a license if they can show they would not be adding to those problems, the council says.
A spokesperson for Save Bristol Nightlife countered that "the policy does nothing but stop anything independent and interesting happening," pushing independent spaces into temporary sites that soon get redeveloped and leaving the city centre dominated by chain bars.
The consultation stays open until October 14. It follows an earlier dispute last year, when an open letter accused the council of quietly ending its funding partnership with nightlife safeguarding project Bristol Nights.
The facts
- Campaign urges scrapping a Cumulative Impact Assessment policy restricting new licenses
- Policy runs until March 7, 2027; council consultation on its future runs until October 14
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