Croydon (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Croydon Council has approved a licence for a café operating in the borough’s new “booze park,” marking a key step in plans to revitalise local outdoor spaces.
In a public park located within Mayor Jason Perry’s recently expanded Public Space Protection Order zones, where even carrying an open can of lager in public is considered an offense punishable by a hefty, on-the-spot fine, Croydon Council has successfully granted a license to sell alcohol to a café.
Next month, the council-owned Wandle Park Café is scheduled to reopen under new management, nearly three years after the failed mayor of Croydon had promised.
The facility was constructed as part of the park’s £3.5 million improvements twelve years ago, but it hasn’t been open since the initial COVID lockdown in 2020. The only public restrooms in the park are located in the café, however they have not been operational.
Mayor Perry’s council was looking for at least £10,000 a year when they first advertised the space for leasing to aspiring business owners. Additionally, the park restrooms must be opened, maintained, and cleaned by the tenants. Therefore, it should not be shocking that Croydon Council, the licensing body, issued a license to their new residents.
Tea rooms and cafés in public parks are rarely given licenses to sell alcohol for a variety of frequently apparent reasons related to safety, public order, and kid protection.
Even before its café closed, Wandle Park was known for being a hub for street drinkers, drug sales, and small-time criminal activity.
Following a meeting of the council’s licensing subcommittee earlier this month, the license was issued under a number of exceptional conditions. The meeting was attended by just three elected council members. There were no excuses for not being present. Margaret Bird, one of the people who did log in for the virtual gathering, simply said her name during the introductions.
The meeting was held on a weekday morning, so anyone who would have to work for a living was excluded because none of the people who had objected to the licensing application showed up.
The application was submitted on behalf of Joal Miez Holdings Ltd., whose only director, Glen Patnelli, gave a lengthy and very persuasive speech during the meeting.
“We are not here to serve alcohol to those who you find hanging around in the park who buy cheap drink from the corner shop and then come to the park to consume it,”
he said.
The council’s head of environmental health, trading standards, and licensing, Michael Goddard, gave a lengthy explanation of the laws and rules pertaining to the 2003 Licensing Act and its four goals: preventing public nuisances, preventing crime and disorder, protecting public safety, and protecting children.
Goddard described how the licensing operation had been modified in several ways following addresses with the police and the aspirant, including lowering the operation hours to 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. rather than till 11 p.m. every night.
Councillor Patsy Cummings, the meeting president, questioned Goddard about whether Wandle Park is closed at night( it isn’t) and how well it’s illuminated after dark( hardly at each).
Patnelli clarified that in addition to installing CCTV for the first time, the café will provide some lights in the park. He implied that the police are thinking about doing drive-through patrols in the park at night.
Patnelli clarified that in addition to installing CCTV for the first time, the café will provide some lights in the park. He implied that the police are thinking about doing drive-through patrols in the park at night.
Patnelli stated (pronouncing it” caff” constantly) that the café would be converted into a community venue that would host events and shops. He went on to say that he doesn’t have the finances to organize similar gatherings.
He described how his business, known as The Science of Sound, has been offering academy vacation conditioning for kids for a number of years. He proposed that engaging in similar conditioning would prop in discouraging asocial geste
Patnelli insisted that the café would not offer alcoholic beverages in cans or bottles for off-site use (after all, he wouldn’t want his patrons to pay 60-quid PSPO fines, would he?). Later on, he may have contradicted himself when he expressed the desire that during the warmer months of the year, there would be tables and chairs outside the café, which would be divided from the park by planters.
According to the terms of the license, the Wandle Park Caff is only permitted to sell alcohol with food.
How will the licence affect enforcement of public drinking rules?
The licence for the new café in Croydon’s Wandle Park will affect enforcement of public drinking rules by creating a controlled and regulated terrain for alcohol consumption within the demesne. Since the venue has a licence to vend alcohol but bans perpendicular drinking( consuming alcohol while standing), alcohol consumption will be confined to seated areas within the café demesne.
This measure aligns with Croydon Council’s broader Public Space Protection Order( PSPO), which aims to help public drunkenness and anti-social behavior in the demesne.
The café’s licensed operation will probably reduce incidents of unbridled public drinking in the demesne by furnishing a supervised space for alcohol consumption, making enforcement concentrated more on unlicensed ornon-café-related public drinking.
