Police slam plans to open club called Smack in Brighton's most violent street (From The Argus)
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Police slam plans to open club called Smack in Brighton's most violent street
10:10am Tuesday 16th October 2012 in News By Anna Roberts, Crime reporter
Plans to open a nightclub called Smack on Sussex’s most violent street are being opposed by police.
The venue, opening on the site of Pasha in West Street, Brighton, has applied for a new drinking licence, which is being opposed by Sussex Police, Brighton and Hove City Council and neighbours.
But a spokesman for the club said it would be aimed at a classy clientele.
In 2011 West Street was named the 32nd worst in the country for crimes. Sussex Police said almost 2,000 violent offences, ranging from carrying a weapon to assault, were recorded overnight – between 8pm and 6am each day – in 2010.
The road is part of the council’s Cumulative Impact Area, which limits the number of licenced premises.
At a licensing meeting of the council on Friday, the club is seeking approval to change its name to Smack and add a new bar.
A spokesman for Smack, which would cater for 380 revellers, said it would not be like Pasha, which shut in April, although the owner of the freehold would remain the same.
He said £700,000 had been spent improving it and the leaseholders had changed.
It is now run by Rowbell Ltd, which also manages The Camelford Arms in Camelford Street, Brighton, and The Paris House in Western Road, Hove.
Admitting there had been problems associated with Pasha, he said: “Smack will be the antithesis of what Pasha was like. It will have a higher class of clientele.
“We have spent a lot of money insulating the building so noise does not escape and we do not want ‘pinch points’ – areas which are very busy.”
Referring to the name Smack, he said it would not be placed outside, but would mainly be for marketing online.
He said: “It absolutely has nothing to do with drugs or violence. It is linked to the feel of the club – a 1980s New York coffee party.”
Yesterday, both Sussex Police and Brighton and Hove City Council’s ward councillors Jason and Ania Kitcat declined to comment on the proposals.
Letters sent by the council and police to the licensing committee opposing the plans are being kept secret.
The council says the documents contain “information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual”.
Comments(37)
billy goat-gruff
says...
10:43am Tue 16 Oct 12
Ballroom Blitz
says...
10:43am Tue 16 Oct 12
However, I don't believe any of their guff, as self evidentally neither do the police.
They are just saying this to get a drinks licence. I hope they are refused. The name is purely designed to attract chavs and rowdies.
Hove Actually
says...
10:57am Tue 16 Oct 12
Ballroom Blitz wrote:Or people looking to score....
If they want it be aimed at a "classy clientele", firstly, it's in the wrong location and secondly "Smack" as a name is hardly likely to attract the sort of people they supposedly want.
However, I don't believe any of their guff, as self evidentally neither do the police.
They are just saying this to get a drinks licence. I hope they are refused. The name is purely designed to attract chavs and rowdies.
hovian
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11:01am Tue 16 Oct 12
voiceofthescoombe
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11:34am Tue 16 Oct 12
SpiderMeringue
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11:39am Tue 16 Oct 12
I'll be sticking to Stay Beautiful at Sticky Mikes for retro glam in a SAFE, friendly environment...and no, they're not paying me to say this.
s&k
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12:02pm Tue 16 Oct 12
DC78
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12:11pm Tue 16 Oct 12
Archie Bun
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12:38pm Tue 16 Oct 12
SpiderMeringue wrote:Wooo i see you.
"1980s New York coffee party" - yeah right. I've looked through the Facebook photos of the opening night and it looks like your typical p*ssed-up chav lads pawing at spray-tanned TOWIE wannabes. I'll be sticking to Stay Beautiful at Sticky Mikes for retro glam in a SAFE, friendly environment...and no, they're not paying me to say this.
9 of us
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1:21pm Tue 16 Oct 12
ShorehamBeachcomber
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1:23pm Tue 16 Oct 12
Cranleigh Murriwether
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1:30pm Tue 16 Oct 12
Cranleigh Murriwether
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1:31pm Tue 16 Oct 12
Jimmy Stewart's Imaginary Rabbit
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3:09pm Tue 16 Oct 12
I DID hear though that they wanted to call it "You looking at my bird?" - but they thought the name would give the wrong impression.
DC78
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3:45pm Tue 16 Oct 12
DC78 wrote:How rude! Hove changed to Brighton, without an apology or a single acknowledgment that the article has been corrected? Very dishonest argus!
Argus local knowledge fail #9482, Camelford Arms, Camelford Street is in Brighton, not Hove.
MuammarQaddafi
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4:03pm Tue 16 Oct 12
Charlie Oscar
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4:27pm Tue 16 Oct 12
Flippin Burghers
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5:03pm Tue 16 Oct 12
rolivan
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5:20pm Tue 16 Oct 12
Now you get a nightclub called Smack that is going to supposedly cater for high class clientele imported from where I don't know.There are far too many Pubs and Clubs in the City Centres all after the same £note.
So what if they spend £700,000 revamping the place let it be a lesson learnt and refuse a licence.
leobrighton
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5:31pm Tue 16 Oct 12
Jeff Leppard
says...
7:09pm Tue 16 Oct 12
At least it'd rhyme with the real clientele.
belo
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8:00pm Tue 16 Oct 12
sussexram40
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8:50pm Tue 16 Oct 12
just-a-person
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10:09pm Tue 16 Oct 12
Capt. Sensiblé
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10:50pm Tue 16 Oct 12
hubby
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10:57pm Tue 16 Oct 12
qm
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11:15pm Tue 16 Oct 12
monkeymoo
says...
9:26am Wed 17 Oct 12
Maybe GOD was a frequent visitor of Creation night club? Does Winnie the Pooh hang out at The honey Club? Lord Nelson get on the mike at Horatio's?
Perhaps the real issue is having more police on the streets and tough policies for dealing with drink related crime...
Nathan_Adler
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10:44am Wed 17 Oct 12
Methinks the new owners haven't done their homework. I once saw a woman spit in West Street!!
Flippin Burghers
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11:24am Wed 17 Oct 12
Capt. Sensiblé wrote:Yep, this rings true. And predictably Mason refuses to leave it cos he's such a man...
The West St formula is so predictable, name your bar something a five year old can read (Smack, Wahoo etc), sell stella for £3 a bottle, play a mixture of R+B, X-Factor renditions, and 'ironic' 80s music, then hire bouncers to stop perma-tanned idiot teenagers being molested by white shirted drunk youths and stag parties, who'll inevitably end up fighting in the taxi queue to the sound of 'Mason, leave it!' etc
Telscombe Cliffy
says...
11:59am Wed 17 Oct 12
Capt. Sensiblé wrote:Spot on Captain. At least Smack as a name doesn't contravene the Trades Description Act as the club 'Bliss' in Bournemouth does.
The West St formula is so predictable, name your bar something a five year old can read (Smack, Wahoo etc), sell stella for £3 a bottle, play a mixture of R+B, X-Factor renditions, and 'ironic' 80s music, then hire bouncers to stop perma-tanned idiot teenagers being molested by white shirted drunk youths and stag parties, who'll inevitably end up fighting in the taxi queue to the sound of 'Mason, leave it!' etc
s&k
says...
12:02pm Wed 17 Oct 12
belo wrote:It's a victim of its own success in many ways which is a shame. When I first visited Brighton about 16 years ago or so it was a revelation; certainly after experiencing the horrible nightlife in Manchester. Brighton felt very welcoming and safe but not any more. You're as likely to see drunken violence in Brighton now as you are in any small Northern town. The only people who profit from this are the breweries and they don't care what carnage is unleashed on the community. It's not too late to change it if the police and council exert more authority over the bar/nightclub industry.
Brighton has gone down big time it used to have clubs where house music was played and every one was cool.now what you got tarts walking down west st half dressed with their arms folded wit mouths on them like ****,and to name a club Smack just shows what kinda people we have in this town and it is a town as it hasn't got a cathedral and don't kid yourself it is and it isn't London by the sea either just a town full of very common people,
bluemonday
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4:07pm Wed 17 Oct 12
Baldseagull
says...
6:20pm Wed 17 Oct 12
s&k wrote:West Street has been this way for as long as I can remember, I doubt it was really any better when you first came to Brighton. You stood a chance of being shot on a night out in Manchester 16 years ago, so West Street might have seemed tame compared to that.
belo wrote:It's a victim of its own success in many ways which is a shame. When I first visited Brighton about 16 years ago or so it was a revelation; certainly after experiencing the horrible nightlife in Manchester. Brighton felt very welcoming and safe but not any more. You're as likely to see drunken violence in Brighton now as you are in any small Northern town. The only people who profit from this are the breweries and they don't care what carnage is unleashed on the community. It's not too late to change it if the police and council exert more authority over the bar/nightclub industry.
Brighton has gone down big time it used to have clubs where house music was played and every one was cool.now what you got tarts walking down west st half dressed with their arms folded wit mouths on them like ****,and to name a club Smack just shows what kinda people we have in this town and it is a town as it hasn't got a cathedral and don't kid yourself it is and it isn't London by the sea either just a town full of very common people,
qm
says...
10:09pm Wed 17 Oct 12
hubby wrote:Depends on the name, 'smack' is better known to the general public as heroin!
What's in a name?
Whitehawkian
says...
10:57am Thu 18 Oct 12
Number 8
Chiva
Brownstone
Murder 1
Skag
and H were discounted and ........
Chinawhite - a very pure form of heroin, is already taken by the Celeb nightclub in London.....
Dr. Feelgood
Junk too common.......
Caballo would have worked but it is a little too 'Spanish'
brighton-breezy says...
10:35am Tue 16 Oct 12