Busy, busy, busy

YOU have a lot of calls on your time as a councillor.

The past month has been particularly busy with galas, school events not to mention the one-to-one problems raised by constituents which have to be dealt with. There have been community council meetings – we have five in Maybole, North Carrick and Coylton – and panel meetings and training sessions within the County Buildings.

This may sound like the build- up- to a moan, but the reverse is true. It has been a fascinating, if hectic two months since the election – nobody told me it would be this busy.

One of the most interesting meetings was the first get-together of the new Licensing Board. To explain to those who don`t know, the Board, deals with applications from all licensed premises, from hotels and pubs to private clubs. We determine how long they can open, what can happen inside the buildings and while ensuring the licensee can earn a living we also take care of the needs of the public making sure there is little or no disturbance from rowdy drunks, no loud music upsetting the peace of neighbours. It can be a delicate balancing act.

However one important move we made last week at our first meeting was to restrict the hours of Beer Gardens – which have sprung up since smoking was banned last year. Beer Gardens may be good for the nicotine addict, but can be particularly annoying for neighbours if they get too noisy – you can`t exactly shut the doors to keep the sound in . From now they will need to close at 10pm. This applies right now to new applications but will gradually cover all licensed premises in South Ayrshire.

As you will see from the Ayrshire post one unusual application at this meeting was for an entertainments licence for lap/pole dancing in a local club. This opened up a moral dilemma for me. I see this as opening up a whole new spectrum in `leisure entertainment` in Ayr. Do we want what I see as the sex industry in our towns; and how do you protect the women so employed from exploitation? The argument was put that it would bring more `tourists` to Ayr. Is this the sort of tourism we want?

However we were saved from making a decision as the licensing laws are about to undergo major changes and we will have to investigate how the Scottish Executive looks on such `adult entertainment before coming to a decision`. The application has been delayed to the next Board meeting in October.

On the brighter side, with my Licensing Board hat on I met Ayr`s superstars the McDonald brothers who are supporting a Board initiative in clubs and pubs this summer aimed particularly at girls- Who`s Keeping an Eye on Your Drink?` I had my picture taken with them – definitely one for the album.

Two comments have been made anonymously to me by email about this blog

1. Lighten up Ann, you are living in the past. Women being exploited? it's us that are exploiting the men by giving them a little thrill in return for hard cash. A local job here in Ayr will save me having to travel to Glasgow to do this work.
Shirley

I am glad you are fighting this move to bring the sex industry into our town.
How about setting up an on line petition against this sex club which will show the Council how normal people feel about a sex club in .

I publish these to show just how widely diverse views on this subject are likely to be.