TOPIC:

I believe they are already on zero hours contracts - by choice, for some reason! Everything is set up already to make the smooth transition to CCTV easily achievable, plus the easy recruitment of agency staff should they fail to bugger off when asked to. Sounds mad, but that's the way it potentially is.

Oh, and someone told me tonight (I knew, but I forgot) that the current music licence is completely separate to the late licence application, and will not be changed by it.

The music licence is set for all live music to finish by 11.00. as usual, so, no change whatsoever there. All we will get is pissed people turning up after the band has finished. I won't be there, so I don't care. Ha ha!

I have just been told that there could be a compromise to this late licence thing. A customer of the pub has a friend who is a licensing consultant, and he was told that if the Bell's licence was extended to midnight, there would be no demands for CCTV as a matter of course. He says that the extra hour before closing time would represent increase of 11.5% on income.

One of the concerns is that when the Bell chucks everyone out at 11.30 (having stopped serving at 11.00), everyone who wants to carry on, troops up to the Star which has a late licence (and a couple of cameras), so the pub loses income. I have heard that The Star has a late licence up to 3.00 am but seldom uses it, so if the Bell were to close at 1.00, then the die-hards could just troop up to the Star again, if the landlord was willing to stay up as late as his licence allegedly allows him to.

I really don't know if any of this is accurate, so it would be good if someone who does could comment - especially a Board member.

This message from the Board has been posted in the Members section of this forum. It is being repeated here and on Facebook to draw together the various strands of comment that have appeared in the last few days on the subject of our application for a late licence.

Dear Members
Some of you will know that your Board is in the process of applying for a late licence for The Bell, but there has been some misunderstanding (and a little bit of misinformation) about why we’re doing it and what its impact might be.
The primary reason for the application is to allow our customers to do what they can already do in 90% of other pubs in the area and enjoy a late drink and a little more entertainment. Many people have mentioned that they can’t believe the Bell shuts so early! We are not going to hire door staff and none of our bar staff will be forced to work late. Nor will we be making them stay late on a quiet night.
If the licence is granted it will generate extra profit that we can use in accordance with our rules to improve the overall Bell experience. Additional profit will be used to maintain and repair the building, book better bands, have better events, pay interest to members and support initiatives within our community.
Prior to submitting our application we had several meetings with the police licensing officer for Bath to discover what recommendations the police would make to B&NES’ Licensing Sub-Committee. The only condition that would create any change to the way the Bell currently operates is the introduction of CCTV focused on the entrances to the main building and on the bar.
Our licence application is being processed to give us the option to proceed with late opening. Because the Board recognises that CCTV is an emotive issue for some people we shall be surveying our members to discover their views before we make any move to implement the licence conditions or to alter our opening times. That survey will begin as soon as possible after the Board meeting scheduled for 4 November. Keep an eye on your email!

Just to labour the point before your meeting on the 4th, was the CCTV installation a 'recommendation' only, right up until the point when the application was put in which included the installation of CCTV cameras, and is it now - because of the immediate concession to the police recommendation - a 'requirement' within the terms of the application?

...It's against everything that made this pub beautiful for the last 20 years. IMHO we don't need or want a late licence, and even if we did then having cctv, door staff?, increased disturbance for local residents (and pub inhabitants), club XL rejects and a load more hassle is JUST NOT WORTH IT. We bought the pub to keep it how it is...

There is now an online petition against CCTV in The Bell for all of you who cannot make it into the pub to sign the paper one. Here it is:
www.ipetitions.com/petition/no-cctv-at-the-bell