Wolverhampton binge drinking crackdown hailed a success
A four year crackdown on binge drinking, which saw bouncers fitted with body cameras and safe havens introduced for clubbers has been a success, according to the council's licensing chief.
Brought in to cut crime and on-street drinking, the Wolverhampton Alcohol Strategy was introduced in 2011 to turn around the image of the city following complaints.
The impact was discussed at a licensing meeting this week.
The introduction of safe havens for clubbers waiting to get home came in for particular praise, as did the introduction of cumulative impact zones - whereby the council can refuse licenses if they believe there are too many places selling alcohol in the vicinity.
Licensing manager Colin Parr said: "The money brought in by the Business Improvement District scheme has helped us increase the number of nights we can host our safe haven for people out in the city centre late at night, which has been a great success.
"The introduction of cumulative impact zones has also been successful and we are starting to see the benefit of that, so there aren't too many shops offering alcohol at all hours.
"It has been said we are not a business friendly council but last week we agreed to give a license to a new pub in the city centre, because we think it will benefit everyone in the right way.
"Unfortunately, there are still off licenses that abuse regulation and show no regard to the law, but through operation riposte, where we targeted off licenses selling illegal tobacco, we hope to send a message that it won't be tolerated."
The introduction of body cameras to 21 of the city's most popular venues was praised as a big improvement in terms of public safety by West Midlands Police officer Sarah Thomas West.
She said: "The cameras are proven to reduce crime, they have done that in other cities across the country.
"Some of the biggest venues in the city now give them to door staff and officers on patrol also use them.
"They also help speed up legal procedures because once people see that what they have done, they usually plead guilty straight away.
"We have also pretty much driven public drinking out of the city centre, you don't see the same scenes you used to, which really boosts the image of Wolverhampton."
However, despite the progress made, councillor Milkinder Jaspal, who represents Heath Town, claims a lot work is still to be done to improve the city centre and make it more attractive to the general public.
He said: "There is still something of a binge drinking culture in Wolverhampton.
"We need to look at changing the dynamic of the city centre and making it more attractive for people of all ages."
