Call To Rein In Suburb Hotels

Newcastle Herald

Tuesday June 17, 2008

By BEN SMEE

THE NSW Police Association has called for trading restrictions at Hamilton hotels to be brought into line with inner-city Newcastle.

Hamilton hotels recently agreed to a self-imposed 2am lockout and 3am curfew in response to a number of recent violent incidents.

Police Association Hunter Region executive member Kel Graham said yesterday that those moves had the potential to create more problems than they solved.

'It's definitely not a proactive move. It's a reactive move as far as I'm concerned," Mr Graham said.

Mr Graham said patrons unable to enter hotels in the inner city would migrate to Hamilton venues if the two centres maintain staggered lockouts.

This in turn would create problems for police.

But Australian Hoteliers Association operations manager Andrew Fletcher said yesterday there was no evidence patrons travelled between Newcastle and Hamilton hotels.

"Hoteliers, who are the people who run these businesses, have seen no evidence of migration to Hamilton," he said. "It's very easy to make these sorts of statements, but there are no facts and figures to back them up."

Mr Fletcher said Hamilton was a very different environment to the inner city, and that local solutions were required to fight local problems.

Mr Graham said officers had reported fewer alcohol-related incidents since the introduction of trading restrictions in Newcastle.

"Our role is to make sure the place is as safe as possible for officers," he said.

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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