TWO Albury nightclubs have already issued red cards under a system which late night traders are hoping will reduce the incidence of anti- social behaviour but has been questioned as not being tough enough.
The Bended Elbow issued two red cards last Saturday night and the Albion Hotel handed out one on the same night.
But member for Albury Greg Aplin said last night the 24-hour penalty could be open to abuse, particularly at weekends.
“If an incident happened at 11pm on Friday what it is to stop that individual pitching up at midnight on Saturday,” he said.
“I am not sure if it’s a strong enough penalty.
“If they are removed for intoxication then are not allowed into other premises under the rules around the responsible service of alcohol.
“But if it sends the message to people that action is going to be taken and this sort of behaviour won’t be tolerated then I think it’s a great step forward.”
The Bended Elbow proprietor Gavin Grant conceded the system wasn’t perfect but the Albury Liquor Accord should be commended for any initiative to stop anti-social behaviour.
“It is a good initiative that helps piece together a big jigsaw and every little bit helps,” he said.
“It’s something the police wanted to see and the liquor accord followed up.
“The red card is obviously related to soccer and we were trying to have them out for the World Cup.
“If people don’t understand the rules they can read them now.
“We can tell them but they choose not to believe us half the time.”
The Albion Hotel’s Brendon Cooper said the red card system was not intended to be the “silver bullet” to ridding Dean Street of unruly behaviour but was worth a go.
“It gives the patron something physical to understand why they have been shown the door,” he said.
“It’s not just us making it up and is actually something based on legislation.
“It gives us another opportunity to eliminate the grey area.
“It won’t be the be-all and end-all but it will certainly be a nice little addition to what we already do.”
Craig Shearer who operates Paddy’s and Roi Bar wasn’t aware if any red cards were issued at the venues last weekend, but said the system was “worth a shot”.
“In general the streets have been great lately, in and outside the venues we haven’t had anything to report on,” he said.
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