Fines for alcohol consumption past midnight in Flagey
Police officers imposed fines for alcohol consumption in the popular Ixelles area Flagey last Friday.
€300. That’s the amount of money some party-goers were required to pay last Friday night because they were drinking alcohol in the Flagey area, as RTBF reported. What’s the point of such sanctions?
Should you remember, Dominique Dufourny, the mayor of Ixelles, decided to ban alcohol around the Ixelles ponds, the Sainte-Croix square and the rue du Belvédère after 2.00 am, last September. The goal of the measure was to avoid some incidents and minor offenses, as some drunk people used to be quite loud, which disturbed residence of the local area. In this framework, the bars and pubs were required to close all their terraces after that deadline.
It seems the measure were not successful enough as citizens had kept on complaining about noise and dirtiness in the neighbourhood. As a way of consequence, Mrs Dufourny decided to make this ban effective from midnight to 8.00 am everyday at the beginning of March.
Although this new order entered into force as of March 15th, no sanction had been imposed so far. After some police officers unsuccessfully decided to adopt a pedagogic and preventive way for hours, they then took repressive measures.
It’s always a big deal to find an adequate balance between those who fancy partying hard until the end of the night, and those who aim to sleep quietly. But the point is also commercial, and several bar-owners expressed their strong concerns. They indeed fear a significant part of their turnover would go down in a near future.
To meet some of their expectations, the Ixelles authorities have planned to reevaluate the ban at the end of May, just before the World Cup starts.
