Council chiefs have reported town centre nightlife in South Tyneside remains “very, very quiet”, while they will have to “wait and see” the impact of the FIFA World Cup on pubs and nearby residents. It came after Councillor Alexander Donaldson, Cleadon Park ward representative, asked for an update on how public houses in the region were doing in terms of both trade and crime incidents.
Speaking at the latest meeting of South Tyneside Council’s licensing and regulatory committee, local authority chiefs said they have yet to experience a return to numbers seen prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was added they are not seeing many crime or antisocial behaviour issues arise from pubs in the town centre however.
Laurence Waldock, operations manager for licensing, said: “I can report it’s very, very quiet in the town centre. It hasn’t really recovered from the pandemic yet and let’s be honest it was very quiet before the pandemic.
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“Let’s see what the future holds for the town centre, but generally speaking there’s nothing significant, if anything to report in antisocial behaviour and things attributed to crime and disorder in the pub trade in the town centre itself.” He added even on Friday and Saturday nights police have been “relatively quiet”, but stressed the council are always there to investigate any issues that arise.
At the same meeting, questions were also raised by councillors over if pubs had made applications for licence alterations or special events to be held to screen FIFA World Cup matches during November and December. Councillor Doreen Purvis said: “I think we’ve got to temper a once in a lifetime event with the residents who live beside these places.”
Council officers said they are awaiting Government guidance for any activities during the period, but noted venues could apply to the council for temporary event notices for screenings not covered by their existing licensing conditions. They added if any venues breach their licence all the usual enforcement tools are in place, and statutory nuisance rules still apply.
Mr Waldock added: “It will be nice and hot in Qatar, but it’s not going to be nice and hot in South Shields or wherever. I think we’ve got to be realistic, I don’t think it’s worth maybe putting televisions outside, but there might be one or two things.”
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