Last week members of the licensee group set up by CAMRA and the Island’s MP Andrew Turner, held a meeting at the Riverside Centre in Newport to which they invited representatives of the Isle of Wight Council and Hampshire Constabulary.
The Fight 4 Wight Licensees campaign, chaired by Jay Chapman of the Character Inns group, was started in January this year to help address the concerns of the licensed trade and raise with the relevant authorities issues related to running their businesses.
As a result of issues related to planning, environmental health, licensing and policing being voiced by a number of members, a meeting was scheduled at the Riverside Centre for licensees to meet with representatives of the Isle of Wight Council and Hampshire Constabulary in an effort to ‘Cut the Red Tape’.
Mr Turner said:
“Local pubs across the country are facing challenging times and the Island is no different. Pubs provide a focus in our villages and towns for community life; indeed in some rural areas they are often the last building open for business. Some have diversified and now offer other services to the communities they serve. Working with Cllr. John Nicholson, the Chairman of CAMRA on the Island we set up a group for them to come together to share their experiences and raise their issues with those who can help resolve them.
“The first meeting was chaired by local news editor Alan Marriott. A number of the shared issues were made clear at that meeting.. A committee was formed and they have been very active in their first few months. I was very grateful that council officers, councillors and police representatives gave up their time to come to the meeting last week which I know was very useful in opening up dialogue.”
Mr Chapman commented:
“As Chairman, I was very pleased with the result of the first ‘Cut the Red Tape’ meeting and would like to thank all the representatives from the IOW Council; in particular Amanda Gregory, the Council’s Regulatory Service Manager, Superintendant Snow from the Hampshire Constabulary and Andrew Turner MP; we were also pleased to see local Councillors John Nicholson (representing CAMRA), John Hobart and Stuart Hutchings and would like to thank them all for their continued support of the licensing trade.
Article continues below this advertisement “The open house meeting proved to be a success, and channels are now open to help keep IOW publicans in business. We believe this continued dialogue will allow excellent two-way communication to bring about positive outcomes for the trade.
“We are looking forward to inviting everyone connected to the trade to the next ‘Cut the Red Tape’ meeting on the 10th October at 10:00 at the Riverside Centre. All the above officers have pledged to come back and take up any future issues to help keep the licensed trade in business for a brighter future for the Isle of Wight economy”.
Anybody interested in getting involved in the campaign are welcome to contact Mr Chapman by e-mail on [email protected] or by calling 07833 922252.
