THE first 3am closing times for bars in Aberdeen have been approved, as nightclub operators pressed the city’s licensing board to scrap the policy, writes Jonathan Watt.
In November, the board announced the decision to remove the requirement to provide “significant entertainment” in order to stay open until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays in its new policy statement.
Last week the board granted the new closing time to city bars The Spiritualist, Paramount, Triple Kirks and Brewdog’s Union Street bar at its first meeting of 2019.
The news came just days after the Aberdeen Licensed Trade Association and those behind nightclubs in the city warned in an open letter to the board of possible venue closures and job losses should the policy not be reversed.
Tony Cochrane, owner of Aberdeen clubs Private Eyes and Club Tropicana, a co-signatory of the letter, told SLTN the board’s policy is “destroying an important part of the city’s night time economy”.
Convener of the Aberdeen city licensing board, councillor Marie Boulton, said the recent policy statement was arrived at after an “extensive” consultation process.
