The proposal to change the closing times of Gothenburg's night clubs from 5:00 to 3:00 is dividing the city's politicians. The issue will be brought up in the Social Resources Committee (Social Resursnämnd).
The red and green majority (Social Democrats, the Greens and the Left Party) are pro the earlier closing time. They have support from the police and a report by Fredrik Spak, which argues that earlier closing times would have positive effects on public health and contribute to a drop in violent crimes.
However, the Liberals and Moderats think the material is too weak. They want the issue to be postponed and further investigated.
Cecilia Wigström (the Liberals) is vice chairman of the Social Resources Committee. She thinks the measures that have been taken during 2011 would improve the statistics and lead to other conclusions, than those that are presented in Spak's report, which is based in information up until 2010.
"This is a big decision that affects both the business sector and the people of Gothenburg. Then us politicians must know what result there is from the measures we have taken," she tells GP.
Chairman of the committee, Dario Espiga (Social Democrats), does not agree.
"We deferred the issue last meeting. They have had a month to find more information. Now it feels like they just want to prolong the debate and postpone the decision."
Social Democrat Bengt-Arne Reinholdson spent a night on the Avenyn together with the police a couple of weeks ago. He tells GP that he thinks the problem is the whole environment along the street. And he thinks the night clubs and pubs can't manage their queues.
"They had to call on the police the whole time. But it's not just about the night clubs and pubs. It's about drunkenness, illegal taxis, lighting and public transport. We need to do a lot of things at the same time."
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