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