I am writing with regards to the recent non-renewal of the public entertainment licence for Cafe Afrika. I gather that a number of local residents have complained about `anti-social behaviour' from people outside the Cafe after hours.

Firstly I would like to express my deep regret at this desicion taken by the council. The Cafe has provided an invaluable asset to Cambridge, providing a space for local artists to display their work, running work shops for children and adults of all ages, providing an outlet for local musicians, both young and old as well as bringing a culturally diverse range of music to Cambridge. As an example of some of the benifits which the Cafe has brought to the area, this Thursday the Cafe was going to host a charity concert to raise money for combatting the spread of Polio in Nigeria. Given the recent sessation of Polio vaccinations in Polio-free countries such as England, the spread of this disease is truely a global problem. This event will now no longer take place as a direct result of the non-renewal of the public entertainments licence. A large amount of work which has gone in to organising and arranging the event from a wide range of local Cambridge residents both young and old will now, unfortunately, have been in vain.

The Cafe has enjoyed a truely multicultural audience, with students, local families, children, the elderly and international visitors regularly attending cross-cultural events. A centre which brings together under one roof the truely diverse nature of those living and working in Cambridge can only be a good thing. A platform and voice for those living here both young and old, the Cafe has already benefitted hundreds of people living in and around Cambridge.

There is, currently, no other such venue or space in Cambridge to fill this gap. The junction is closed for the summer, the Boat Race has closed down and other venues in town are both costly and uninterested in putting on events for local musicians - especially the younger musicians. Would we rather our children participated in running, playing in and being involved in cross-cultural musical events which inspire a wider understanding of the world, or would we rather our children had no such space in which to spend their time constructively? Surely the removal of the public entertainments lisence at Cafe Afrika will lead to more and more disaffected children and youths in the area, who with nothing better to do will be left to roam the streets on a Friday night leading to exactly the kind of `anti-social behaviour' which presumably you are trying to avoid.

There are other local bars and pubs in the area which no-doubt contribute to the problem of noise late at night outside the cafe, not least the Kebab van which provides a natural encouragement for people to remain outside the cafe after it has closed. The fundamental question is this: does removing the public entertainment licence for Cafe Afrika really alliviate the problem of noise late at night in the area? The noise does not come from within the Cafe (it is sound-proofed). Perhaps the removal of the Kebab van from outside the venue would be a first-step towards alleviating the problem. A second step may be to consider allowing the Cafe to open later. This would provide a wider range of leaving times rather than having everyone pouring out of the Cafe at one time leading, inevitably to some noise for the local residents.

Finally, it is important to be clear about what exactly is meant by `anti-social behaviour'. To my knowledge there has never been any need for Police presence at the club - a fact which is nearly unprecidented when compared with the strong Police presence at closing times of other clubs in the Cambridge town centre. If `anti-social' behaviour is entirely within the bounds of the law, to what extent is it really anti-social?

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. I hope that you can find the time to respond to some of the issues which I have raised and that some mutually beneficial agreement on the public entertainments licence can be reached which satisfies both the local residents and the hundreds of local and non-local people who regularly attend live music events at the Cafe.