You can’t party on until 4am
Dusk refused extra hour
Dusk nightclub in Stirling’s city centre has failed in a last minute bid to allow a student party and charity fundraiser to run until 4am.
Applicants Attraction Inns Ltd said the extended hour - which would have allowed Dusk to open until 4am last Thursday - was needed to faciliate fundraising for local sports teams and charities which the premises sponsor annually and for a student Christmas party.
However, Stirling District Licensing Board unanimously rejected the application at a meeting last Wednesday on the basis of lack of specifics about the event and the potential for an increase in crime and disorder at that time of the morning.
Police, who were unhappy that they had been given less than a week’s notice of the application, told the board: “With the information provided to us by the applicant it appears the extension is requested solely to allow patrons to consume more alcohol.
“There is no reason mentioned within the appication concerning what the fundraising events are or why a one hour extension is required by the applicant to facilitate such fundraising events or a Christmas party.
“The premises already has a seven-hour opening window on each evening. It is our contention that the operating hours that the premises currently have should be more than adequate to allow for fundraising events/a Christmas party to take place and that no exceptional reason or explanation has been provided as to why an extra hour should be required.”
They added that any extension to the operating hours could exacerbate existing “alcohol fuelled violence and disorder” in the city centre in late evening and the early hours, and that it would stretch their resources.
Councillor Martin Earl said: “If this is for fundraising, I struggle to see why this hour is needed. They are unlikely to be raising much in that hour and will probably have raised the bulk of their money prior to that time. I feel quite uneasy about this one and the lateness of it (being submitted).”
Councillor Gerry McLaughlan said: “While I am sympathetic to fundraising, if people are going to put this forward I want more details such as whether 100 per cent of profits are going to charity and assurances that this is not just a description to get round it.”