Bamboche, or not bamboche? As promised, the city of Lille has just installed its “Lille Night Council”. Its members, from very different backgrounds, will have the difficult task of keeping the goat and the cabbage between revelers and residents to draft a nightlife charter which will come into force in 2022.
Lille is not the last city where we know how to party. Well, at least she wasn’t. Until recently, there was still a certain anarchy in the organization of nightlife which sometimes had its good sides, but which could also cause a number of problems.
“Improve the balance” between revelers, residents and the economy
The abuses of certain professionals in the sector have given the town hall a reason to tighten the screw. The many fake nightclubs that had obtained late opening permits have been reclassified as bars with the doors closing at 2 a.m. maximum. The derogatory authorizations for late opening, historically granted according to the sector, have all been blown. Since last June, the rule has been the same for everyone: 1 hour on weekdays, 2 hours on weekends and closed terraces 2 hours before the venue.
And since Monday, the city has a new weapon, or a new tool: the council of the night. It is made up of institutions, operators of establishments, representatives of local residents, night owls, representatives of associations or public partners, personalities and elected municipal officials. “This body aims to improve the balance between the party desires of some, the economic activity of others and the tranquility of the inhabitants”, explains the town hall.
The members of this council will work on different themes during commissions spread between mid-December and January 2022. It will notably be a question of “nightlife regulation”, in other words what we can do or not, or even “Risk reduction”. For this last theme, in addition to the issue of assaults in party areas, the advisers will address that of the GHB. In this regard, moreover, the city has ordered 2,000 glass protectors which will be distributed free of charge in bars and nightclubs. Another task of the council, and not the least, its members will participate in the drafting of the new nightlife charter. Extended hours? Reduced? Closure of the terraces aligned with the room? The answers will fall in the course of 2022.