Chance for more bars and pubs to open

A LEGAL hurdle restricting the number of new pubs, bars and clubs which can open up in Bristol disappears next month, sparking fears residents’ lives will be made a “misery”.

The city currently has five “cumulative impact areas” (CIAs) which are considered to be heavily saturated with licensed premises: the city centre, Clifton, Gloucester Road, Whiteladies Road, and Bedminster and Southville.

Bristol City Council’s CIA policy makes it very tough for any new establishment to gain a premises licence or club premises certificate in any of these areas.

But the policy lapses at the end of this month and, following a change in the law governing CIAs and the evidence required to justify them, the council has been forced to drop four of them.

Officials determined there was no longer enough evidence to support CIAs in Clifton, Gloucester Road, Whiteladies Road, and Bedminster and Southville, council papers show.

There was enough evidence to support keeping a CIA in the city centre, but police recommended the borders be redrawn to exclude Broadmead because of a lack of evidence in that particular area.

So the council has resolved to consult on its revised CIA for the city centre before introducing a new policy to govern licensing in the area for the next five years.

This will take several months or more so no CIAs will be in place in Bristol from August 1.