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It’s been a lament of Londoners for years now – why does it feel like every ‘late-night’ venue closes so damn early? While there are places that are still genuinely late-night (you just need to know where to look), there’s nothing more frustrating than being amped up for a big night out, only to unexpectedly hear the last orders bell well before midnight. And these days, that can feel like an all too frequent occurrence.
But in some good news for the city’s night owls, Camden Council has given the go ahead for plans that’ll allow venues in the area to stay open later.
The newly approved draft five-year strategy for Camden includes plans to extend the ‘framework hours’ for pubs, clubs and other businesses. That means that those venues could be able to serve food and alcohol for an extra 30 minutes every day.
The deal is that businesses that want to stay open later will have to carry out a risk assessment and bring in measures to minimise public disturbance, such as dispersal policies or extra security.
As part of the proposals, the borough’s cumulative impact zones (CIZ) – a policy that makes it harder for venues to get licenses in areas where there’s already a large cluster of licensed businesses – would be scrapped.
The council hopes that the updated strategy will help spur on business growth in the borough ‘while encouraging greater community participation and increased confidence in licensing decisions’.
Residents aren’t overjoyed about the plans, though. In discussions with the council back in November, David Kaner, chair of the Covent Garden Community Association, said: ‘It will entrench the alcohol-led nature of the night-time economy in Camden Town. It will not increase diversity, which was the whole point. The removal of framework hours will simply harm residents and will do nothing to increase the mix of businesses.’
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. The draft strategy is still yet to go to cabinet and then there’ll be a full council vote over whether it should be officially adopted.
In the meantime, there are a number of drinking spots throughout the city that do stay open into the early hours of the morning. You can find a comprehensive list of them right here. And to keep things going even longer, check out Time Out’s list of London’s greatest clubs.
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