Former Burnley nightclub boss Mick Cookson calls for licensing hour reform to revitalize nightlife scene

Mick Cookson the former Burnley nightclub boss is advocating for licensing hour reform to breathe new life into the local nightlife scene.

Transcript

00:00 I think basically at the moment what's happened is due to the nightlife not starting until

00:03 2 o'clock in the morning, I think things need to change drastically in Burnley.

00:07 Licensing laws need to change back to the normal hours and give everybody a fair chance

00:11 at the business.

00:13 What's happened with Covid, it's killed the clubs as well, so they're just getting back

00:17 on their feet and then we've got these late licences until 6 in the morning which are

00:20 just terrorising the town.

00:22 There's no nightlife anymore, you come into Burnley at say 8 o'clock and it's completely

00:27 dead on Saturday, Friday and Saturday.

00:29 And to me that's a big, it's sad really because when Burnley were an hour, obviously running

00:34 clubs in the town, we were packed out from 8 o'clock right through to 2 in the morning.

00:39 People went home, they went back to work in the morning and everything was great.

00:43 But nowadays people aren't leaving clubs until 6, 7 in the morning.

00:46 How can that be good for the town?

00:49 How can that benefit the town in every way?

00:51 I'd never say no to anything.

00:54 There's always a chance that something might change enough for me to say I think it's right

00:58 for me to have another go, but go back into the town.

01:01 At the moment I wouldn't really consider it until these licensing laws are changed.

01:05 Even the average person on the street at my age, they go out in town, where do they go?

01:11 They've got a few options because there's nowhere open, because nobody wants to open

01:14 having an empty bar for five hours until they come out.

01:17 And that's where the issue is.

01:19 Why would you put all that money to invest into a nightclub or a bar when basically people

01:23 don't come out until 12 o'clock, 1 o'clock in the morning?

01:26 That's what's killed the town.