Stephen Gilbert
Main Page: Stephen Gilbert (Liberal Democrat - St Austell and Newquay)Coastal Towns (Government Policy)
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Stephen Gilbert (St Austell and Newquay) (LD)
It is a pleasure to take part in the debate and I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds) on securing it. I shall be very quick, as time is pressing.
There are two issues that I hope the Minister will address affecting people in Newquay, which is part of the new constituency that I am so proud to represent. The first is licensing policy. It seems that, as our seaside towns have changed from family destinations to places where younger people go to enjoy themselves perhaps a little too much on some weekends, the licensing regime has not kept up with the speed at which businesses can open, shut and reopen, often flouting the decisions that local authorities make when they finally get round to intervening. In particular I am thinking of the requirement not to solicit objections to bars, nightclubs and, indeed, lap-dancing clubs. It is a bizarre incongruity that in the planning context the local authority can seek people’s views, but in the licensing context it cannot.
Finally—I hope another hon. Member may have a minute or two in which to speak—I want to mention the issue of resourcing following footfall. My hon. Friend made the point that in Blackpool, 18,000 people go to the health care centre, but there is no additional funding. The population of Newquay goes from 20,000 in the winter months to 120,000 in summer, but there is no extra resourcing for policing. That gives rise to a question about how we sustain proper local services in periods of additional population pressure.