Seven people have been banned from pubs in Caerphilly, Bargoed and Blackwood since August 1 due to the Pub Watch Online scheme.
Nine pubs in Caerphilly and seven in Blackwood and Bargoed are part of the scheme that means offending in one pub could see culprits banned from other establishments in the area.
Among those banned are a 46-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman from Ystrad Mynach who assaulted door staff at the Kings Arms in Caerphilly on August 1, leading to a five year ban each.
Three men from Bargoed were also banned for five years each for assaulting a member of staff at Blisters nightclub in Bargoed on August 10.
Night Time Economy Officer, PC Adam Lang said: “The majority of the popular pubs in Caerphilly are currently signed up to Pub Watch. People need to take note, that if you misbehave in one, your information will be shared with Gwent Police and other pubs and you could receive a ban varying from one month to life.
“Behaviour like this will not be tolerated in these pubs and people who act in this manner will be punished for their actions. We currently have 18 people banned from pubs across Caerphilly, Blackwood and Bargoed – and two new pubs have joined the scheme this month.”
Alcohol appears to be the main driving force behind the night time economy, that is certainly the case in Caerphilly town. it is of no surprise that violence has increased with the emergence of night time leisure. Unlke other towns and cities the night time economy in Blackwood and Caerphilly and Bargoed is almost entirely based on the consumption of alcohol.
Local
councils, including Caerphilly Council, over past recent years have
relied on attracting capital into our towns by way of treditional
traders and retain businesses, and they have become seduced into risk
taking, inventiveness, promotion, as conventional trading streams have
deminished, employment in local factories and other conventional forms
of sound emeployment have also deminished and the local authority made a
decision or rather a series of decisions over a number of years, which
have helped create sometimes blackmarket jobs in the night time
ecomomy, this contributes to the difficulties that Gwent Police have in
regulating violent behaviour and criminal activitiesin licenced
premisies and on the streets.
As younger generations regularly
take part in nighttime activities, they are constantly exposed to
practices that are common to the night time economy, and violence is
becoming one of these practices. The more they are exposed, the more
likely they are to accept it as a normal part of their liminal
experience, which can, in turn, lead to a proliferation of violent acts
and offences. Violence rates are bound to increase and much of the
labour force of the night is part of the hidden economy, paid cash in
hand Black market employment is an important issue associated with it
and is therefore tax free. At the same time the working conditions are
not regulated by any authority, which can be detrimental to the
employees, as their wages, working hours and job specifications do not
in large part, respect laws and regulations.The one area where
Caerphilly council and the police do enforce regulation is in relation
to local Taxis and they have recently been critisised for doing even
that
Some of what you said is reasonable but a black market economy? You need to expand your knowledge of this and possibly report it to the correct authorities.
On a positive note it seems by banning the trouble makers is in effect a positive move towards making the town safer place than it already is.
I don’t know what other night time attractions you have in mind for Caerphilly town but I might remind you this is a working class town and has to cater to that to the larger extent. Proof of this is the fact that restaurants often have difficulty in establishing themselves here because the customer base prefers its eateries to be licenced and largely prefers the casual atmosphere of a pub to the formality of a restaurant.
I largely agree with what you said, but there is absolutely no reason
why, simply because it is, in your words, “a working class town”. that
the night time economy could not be proportionately expanded to include a
number of other facilities and attractions.
The development of a
Community Cinema. (Hugely successful in Bargoed, so much so that local
elected representatives for the area are pushing hard for the
development of a regular commercial cinema to be provided once again)
Civic
Money provided for the development of the Caerphilly Workman’s Hall as a
good quality Theater ( for community groups and armature dramatic
groups to put on productions and to attract professional shows and
productions.) it is more than half way there already.
The
Council to provide FREE car parking in the evenings in civic car parks,
to encourage visitors to use the additional family friendly attractions
of a Community Cinema, Theater, and Castle attractions etc
CADWR
should be encouraged to open up the Castle for historical displays and
productions, in the evenings, attracting local children and children
from further afield to the organised activities.
All the above
would encourage new restaurants and other food outlets to become
established due to the inevitable increased but diverse footfall in the
town.
The CCBC already employ well paid Officers, and in fact, a
Cabinet Member, who`s role it s is to make our towns up and down the
borough more vibrant and to attract inward investment, but for that to
happen these people have to be much more proactive and inventive,
sometimes thinking outside the box, otherwise it will never happen.
Currently
the Caerphilly Town Council provide successful, in respect to footfall,
events from time to time, but the money used on these events is lost in
respect to investment, there is no tangible over run of the
expenditure, for instance £10,000 or more spent on fireworks. The event
is well attended, and collects roughly the same for charity as it spend
on staging the event, but provides no on running investment which could
be built on, if for instance ,the money was injected into the Workman’s
Hall project, even for just one year. or, invested in a series of
Community Cinema events, one for children, one for teens, and one for an
older nostalgic audience.changing the venue each time to cater for the
expected audiences, there are number of local venues which could be
used, The Castle, or the Castle Walls. The Playing fields in Crescent
Road, The Rugby Club Grounds, etc etc
I’m pretty sure we’ve had this discussion before where I actually suggested some similar items.
My point about the working class aspect of the town is relevant as by and large it is still a working class town even though the work has gone elsewhere. I am reticent to use the common, modern phrase of underclass that is bandied about by some political commentators as I believe these people are just working class without the work…….at the moment.
Caerphilly as a town, services Caerphilly as a whole including as a borough and does not belong to town residents, such as you or I solely, and as such must service the needs of the entire borough and all its demographics. Such as a place to go for a knees up as well as somewhere to take your kids.
If town were to turn into a place that children and families could roam unhindered till bedtime then I would be advantaged as a father of a young child.
But this would not cater to the needs of large chunks of working age people who actually pay the taxes that pay for development and encouragement of inward investment and want to unwind on a Friday night.
I know you mentioned that town could “be expanded” to include other facilities but I get the feeling you would rather the current facilities were changed beyond recognition.
Your last paragraph, I would not rather the current facilites were changed beyond recognition. I would however rather the enforcement authorities, for this and that, actually did what they are paid to do, including, within current capabilities, the Gwent Police. The Reason? because the entire town population, including those who migrate to the pubs and clubs at night, have to co-exist, but this cannot happen in a proportionate way if the events highlighted in this article and other lawlessness issues are not dealt with in a proactive and not a reactive way, which it is at present.
Only then can any inward investment to improve facilities and activities for ALL diverse users of the town be an attractive proposition. And I include civic investment in this arguement.But it can be done.
I think, that current facilities are adequate for those “large chunks of working people who actually pay the taxes that pay for development and encouragment of inward investment and want to unwind on a Friday night”
I consider that the other large chunk of working people with families could make a similar attractive proposition for inward investors, unfortunaty, they are currently uncatered for.