Consultee Comment for planning application N6/2015/1309/FP

The Parkway Bar, Parkway, Welwyn Garden City, AL8 6JQ

Installation of bi-fold windows to front, bi folding doors to rear elevations and removal of paint to first floor windows

Gerry Brophy

Thank you for sight of this application to install bi-fold doors to the front and rear of the premises. My comments are from a crime prevention perspective only. Having read all the associated planning documents and having been to the site, I make the following observations. The foot way is about 3M wide outside the premises. At present there are four windows which afford a view into and out of the premises. The proposal to replace these windows with doors is of great concern to me. The implied object is to open the doors and allow patrons to congregate on the footway, maybe with the addition of chairs and tables. Certainly this is where smokers will congregate and at least, partially block the footway. Noise levels will also rise for local inhabitants due to the increased exposure to noise from within. The potential for conflict between drinkers and passers-by will be dramatically increased. If we factor in the outstanding application directly opposite this location for a new public house, we can start to see the formation of a crime driving location through numbers of drinkers spilling out onto the respective footways. Although the applications have to be considered individually, police will have to deal with the consequence collectively and for this reason I officially object to this application. I have also consulted with the local police licensing officer for the area and he is in accord with my feelings on this application.