12 - Alcohol ban plan for Sedgley

Archived news release from 2008

Proposals for an alcohol ban to be introduced in Sedgley town centre and the surrounding area will go before Dudley Council’s licensing and safety committee next week.

 

At its meeting next Tuesday (March 18) the committee will be asked to consider an Order to make Sedgley a designated public place where the consumption of alcohol would be prohibited.

 

The area proposed to be affected by the Order would include the town centre itself, Dormston, Alder Coppice and Queen Victoria schools and also stretch to Cotwall End Nature Reserve at the south of Sedgley and Beacon Centre for the Blind at the north end. The police will produce evidence at the meeting to explain the reason for the specific areas being considered for the Order.

 

Although the police already have powers to confiscate alcohol from people who are or appear to be under the age of 18, the Order will give them the power of arrest. This would act as an important deterrent and as a method of enforcement in dealing with this type of anti-social behaviour.

 

Around 300 households in the immediate area of the proposed ban have been informed about the plans, which have also been discussed at area committee meetings. There have been 39 representations made, all in support of the proposals.

 

If the committee support the Order, it will be made by the council’s director of law and property and reviewed after 12 months by the police.