Thursday, October 29, 2009

Public Drinking Ban for Hackney?




Residents and businesses across Hackney have been raising their concerns about the increase in anti social behaviour relating to alcohol. The problem is particularly acute in and around Shoreditch including parks such as Hoxton Square.


As a result, Hackney Council is considering introducing a borough-wide Controlled Drinking Area (CDA). A borough-wide CDA will give police powers to confiscate alcohol or issue fixed penalty fines to those drinking and causing disorder or threatening behaviour in streets, parks and open spaces.


A CDA is not a ban and does not make it illegal to drink alcohol responsibly in a public place.There have been designated areas in Hackney where CDAs have been in operation and these have been successful in reducing drunkenness and rowdy behaviour in public. However, this can mean that the problem is then moved to a new area, so a borough wide CDA is now being consulted on.


The public consultation runs until 24th December 2009. You can fill in your views online here or download more information about the proposed CDA here.

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