LOCAL pubs could extend their opening hours without the public ever finding out if new Government proposals are given the go ahead.

Last Friday, October 9, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Business Secretary Peter Kyle launched a consultation on licensing reform - an attempt to simplify the process for getting licenses and cut red tape.

But the new plans include a proposal to remove the statutory requirement for alcohol licensing notices to be advertised in local ’papers. This proposal could shroud local communities in secrecy, especially as around 20 per cent of the population are unable to access the online world.

It would mean plans to open a new pub or nightclub, or for an existing venue to change its opening hours, would no longer be publicised within local communities.

Attractive and welcoming they may be, but when in 2022 former stables at Sergeants Lane, Tenby, were granted retrospective planning ‘change of use’ permission, neighbours were not impressed. They met with the Town Council’s planning committee to voice their concerns that alterations had already taken place and the venue had held karaoke nights.

That’s because residents need to be informed of what’s being planned in their neighbourhood. It gives them an opportunity to object, if they feel the changes would be detrimental to public safety or the protection of children, or if they believe it would encourage crime or be a public nuisance.

If the proposals become law, it would mean that all of those who objected to the redevelopment of the former stables project would have had no idea of the business plans.

Imagine being woken up by the thumping sound of music from a bar or local hotel.

Under current regulations a bar or hotel seeking changes to its licensing and entertainment provisions have to issue public notices giving all its neighbours and interested parties a right to comment on the new proposals. Because of Labour’s plans at Westminster, those licensing and entertainment changes can go ahead, allowing alcohol to be sold into the early hours of the morning, discos and raves every night of the week breaking your sleep. It’s not good enough.

At the same time as the licensing reforms, a provision in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill would remove the legal requirement for notices publicising changes to local authority governance arrangements to be published in local papers.

News Media Association chairman Danny Cammiade, who is also chief executive of Tindle Newspapers which owns the Tenby Observer, said: “Local news media in print and digital provide a highly trusted and independent environment for public notices to appear in, with local journalists often reporting on the content of the notices.

“Developed with funding and expertise from Google, the industry’s Public Notice Portal has increased the reach of public notices online, with the print requirement remaining essential for ensuring those who cannot, or prefer not to, use digital technology can access the notices.

“Removing alcohol licensing notices from local papers would undermine this work and leave local communities shrouded in secrecy.”