This article first appeared in the Manchester Evening News on Tuesday 16th April. You can view it here.

Crunch, which was one of the region’s most visited bars by police last year, had their bid turned down as part of a crackdown on Manchester’s gay village excess.

An ‘irresponsible’ bar has been blocked from late opening in a crackdown on Manchester’s gay village excess.

Crunch was one of the region’s most-visited venues by police last year.

It also breached a string of licensing conditions while causing misery for residents.

Now its bid for a 5.30am licence has been rejected by council bosses – who warn it could spark crime and disorder.

Their decision notice says the bar is not being ‘responsibly managed’.

The rejection has been hailed as a triumph by those campaigning for a new, safer gay village.

City centre councillor Kevin Peel, who spoke against Crunch’s application, pledged to challenge any bid for a post-4am licence in the area. He added:

“Enough is enough.

“We can’t let irresponsible venue owners get away with constantly extending their hours and holding councillors, residents and businesses in contempt.

“We’ve got residents directly above Crunch and residents next door – people are frightened to leave their homes as a result of this.

“This is a really positive development. We are not going to tolerate these irresponsible venues in the vision we have got for the village and I will be very supportive of licence reviews where we suspect they are not living up to their responsibilities.”

Manchester council’s licensing committee heard the bar – currently open until 4am – has broken a string of licensing conditions on noise and security.

They also heard it was in the top ten Greater Manchester venues for police call-outs in the last six months of 2012, while angry residents have struggled to raise their concerns with its management.

Nobody at the Canal Street venue was available to comment.

Licensing panel reject application for Saphrau at 10 Canal Street following representations from residents and Labour councillors.

Manchester City Council’s licensing committee today rejected in its entirety a new licence application submitted by the current owner of Crunch at 10 Canal Street for the same venue under the name Saphrau.

A dozen residents and both of your Labour councillors submitted objections to the application, which would have allowed the venue to sell alcohol until 4am on weekdays and 5.30am over the weekend and stay open 24 hours.

Cllr Kevin Peel  attended the meeting to speak on behalf of residents alongside two residents and called for the application to be rejected outright. Following 5 hours of proceedings, the panel rejected the application in full, making the following comments:

- Granting the application would have a negative impact on the crime & disorder licensing objective. GMP noted that the venue had 75 incidents recorded against it in 2012, with the majority of serious incidents occurring after 3am.

- Granting the application would have a negative impact on the public nuisance licensing objective. The additional hours would have a clear detrimental impact on residents living above the venue and next door.

- The applicant has clearly breached conditions on the existing premises licence.

- The application contains inadequate conditions, with many conditions deemed proportionate and appropriate on the existing premises licence removed from the new one.

- The current management of the premises was deemed inadequate.

Cllr Kevin Peel said:

“This is a victory for residents and for everyone who wants to improve the Village. The venue already has a licence which allows it to open until 3.30am during the week and 5am at weekends. A 24 hour licence is excessive and will exacerbate existing problems of crime & disorder, noise nuisance and anti-social behaviour in the Village.

“I hope this sends a message to other venues considering applications to extend their hours beyond reasonable times that it will not be tolerated.

“I will continue working with residents and the vast majority of Village businesses who act responsibly to improve the area.”

The part-time bollard installed on Sackville Street after a campaign led by your Labour councillors has been fixed following weeks of technical problems.

Residents first complained that the bollard wasn’t working properly in February, but contractors were slow to identify the problem and several weeks went by before it was able to be fixed.

Councillors intervened and the work was finished this week, meaning the bollard should be fully operational from 20.00 to 05.30 on Fridays and Saturdays.

City centre councillor Kevin Peel said:

“I am frustrated and angry with the length of time contractors took to identify and fix the problem and I have asked council officers to investigate whether any punative action can be taken.

“However the bollard is now fixed and residents should once again be able to get a decent nights sleep free from the sound of honking taxi horns on Sackville Street.”

City Council licensing enforcement officers will be out this weekend to monitor the situation and issue fixed penalty notices to any taxis not playing by the rules.

Two licence applications for ‘Crunch’ on Canal Street were withdrawn today hours before the licensing committee was due to make a decision.

The applications – one to extend existing hours on the ground floor and another to open a new club on the first floor – were strongly opposed by residents and your Labour councillors.

City centre councillor Kevin Peel said:

“This is a victory for Village residents who don’t want to live with the noise and anti-social behaviour created by 24 hour bars and clubs. However the fight isn’t over yet. A new application has been submitted for the same premises seeking similar hours to the withdrawn applications.

Your Labour councillors have opposed this new applications and will continue working with residents, responsible businesses and Greater Manchester Police to tackle the negative impact of some late night bars in the Village area.”

Friends of Sackville Gardens is to be re-launched following a successful exploratory meeting.

A friends group for Sackville Gardens - a much loved park at the heart of the Village – is to be re-launched in March following a successful meeting to discuss the idea with residents, businesses and local community groups.

The group will investigate sources of funding to improve the park and look to develop a programme of events in the park throughout the year for the whole community to enjoy.

Kevin Peel, councillor for the city centre and one of the city council’s Lead Members for LGBT issues, said:

“I’m delighted to support the establishment of this group. Sackville Gardens is a fantastic space at the heart of the city centre used by everyone from the Wai Yin Chinese Women’s Society yoga class to the Sparkle trans pride event and I’d like to see residents, businesses and community groups working together to make it even better.”

Membership is open to any resident, business or community group in Manchester with an interest in helping Sackville Gardens to flourish. The group will be looking to elect a Chair, Secretary and Treasurer at the meeting.

The launch meeting will take place at 6.30pm on Monday 18th March in the Community Resource Centre at the Lesbian & Gay Foundation, 5 Richmond Street, M1 3HF.

Register your attendance by e-mailing Darren Knight on darren.knight@lgf.org.uk.

A new licence application has been received to re-open Krunchy Fried Chicken on Bloom Street, following the recent licence review called by GMP which saw the licence revoked.

A summary of the new application is included below. Please note that in order to submit a valid comment to the licensing authority, you must e-mail premises.licensing@manchester.gov.uk specifying the reference number for the application you are commenting on by midnight on Tuesday 12th March. Please copy your Labour councillors in to your submission if you wish us to represent your views.

Your submission should include your full address and your comments should reference one or more of the licensing objectives:

• The prevention of crime and disorder
• Public safety
• The prevention of public nuisance
• The protection of children from harm

All representations we receive will be included in our own submission to the licensing authority and we will represent residents at the hearing.

Licensing Act 2003 (Premises licences and club premises certificates)
Application Type: Premises Licence (new)
Premises: Krunchy Fried Chicken, 43 Bloom Street
Application Ref: LPA149901
 
Proposed trading hours for the provision of late night refreshment: Sun to Thur 2300 to 0400   |   Fri to Sat 2300 to 0500

Proposed opening hours for the premises: Sun to Thur 1000 to 0400   |   Fri to Sat 1000 to 0500

In an effort to ensure wider awareness of planning and licensing applications in the city centre, your local Labour councillors will now be publishing details of pertinent applications on our website.

A new licence application has been received for 10 Canal Street under the name ‘Saphrau’. Residents may be aware that this premises holds Crunch, which has submitted two applications in recent weeks for a new members club on the first floor and amendments to the hours of the bar on the ground floor. These applications are pending and are due to be heard by the licensing committee on 12th March, at which Cllr Kevin Peel will be present to represent those residents who have contacted councillors.

A summary of the new application is included below. Please note that in order to submit a valid comment to the licensing authority, you must e-mail premises.licensing@manchester.gov.uk specifying the reference number for the application you are commenting on by midnight on Tuesday 12th March. Please copy your Labour councillors in to your submission if you wish us to represent your views.

Your submission should include your full address and your comments should reference one or more of the licensing objectives:

• The prevention of crime and disorder
• Public safety
• The prevention of public nuisance
• The protection of children from harm

All representations we receive will be included in our own submission to the licensing authority and we will represent residents at the hearing.

Licensing Act 2003 (Premises licences and club premises certificates)
Application Type: Premises Licence (new)
Premises: Saphrau, 10 Canal Street, Manchester, M1 3EZ
Application Ref: LPA149875
 
Proposed trading hours for the provision of regulated entertainment (plays, films,live music, recorded music, performances of dance and anything of a similar description to live music, recorded music or performances of dance): Mon to Thur 1100 to 0400   |   Fri to Sat 1100 to 0530   |   Sun 1100 to 0400

Proposed trading hours for the provision of late night refreshment: Mon to Sun 2300 to 0500

Proposed trading hours for the supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises only: Mon to Thur 1100 to 0400   |   Fri to Sat 1100 to 0530   |   Sun 1100 to 0400

Proposed opening hours for the premises: Mon to Sun 0000 to 0000 (24 hours)

Following a licence review called by Greater Manchester Police and supported by your Labour councillors, the licence for Krunchy Fried Chicken on Sackville Street in the Village area has been revoked.

Cllr Joan Davies attended the hearing on behalf of the many residents who have contacted councillors about the rubbish, noise and anti-social behaviour at the premises.

We are delighted with the result and will continue working with residents, the police and responsible local businesses to improve the Village.

Your Labour councillors are supporting the establishment of a new resident-led ‘Friends of Sackville Gardens’ group.

The group is open to anyone with an interest in supporting this important park at the heart of the city centre.

An inaugural meeting will take place at the Lesbian & Gay Foundation’s Community Resource Centre, 5 Richmond Street, Manchester, M1 3HF at 6.30pm on Tuesday 12th February.

Your city centre Labour team take action to tackle noise nuisance and anti-social behaviour in the Village and Granby Row area

Following our recent success in getting an application for later opening hours by Fifth Avenue rejected we are working with local residents, council officers and the police to take further action.

We have organised a meeting with the management of Fifth Avenue for local residents to discuss their concerns and we are supporting efforts by GMP to dramatically scale back the opening hours of AXM and Queer/Boyz – two of the latest opening bars in the area and those causing considerable problems for residents.

Furthermore, the weekend late night pedestrianisation of Sackville Street which we campaigned for is due to begin at the start of August, which we hope will reduce the problem of illegal taxi ranking and horns blaring at all hours.

To report any noise nuisance issues linked to late night premises in your area contact the council’s Contact Centre on 0161 234 5000 or e-mail contact@manchester.gov.uk, copying in your local councillors.

To report any non-urgent anti-social behaviour or criminal activity linked to late night premises in your area contact GMP on 101 or e-mail a1apt@gmp.police.uk, copying in your local councillors. In an emergency call 999