Village Voice
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THE TALENT OF MELBOURNE GETS TO SHOW OFF No 273 August 2015
Melbourne & District
SIMON Cowell, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and David Walliams turned up in Melbourne for one night only in July – but not as you’ve seen them before. The quartet (or very convincing look-a-likes) graced Melbourne Infant School with their presence as part of “Melbourne’s Got Talent” – a fund-raising evening dreamt up by the school’s Parents’ Association (PA). Not only did the show feature the acting talents of the four judges – one of whom, we can now reveal, was the Village Voice’s very own Frank Hughes (joined by PA chair Jenny Halliday, Junior School mum Mairead Bailey and Andrew Horth) – but it also saw a wide-range of acts perform in the Infant School hall, delighting a sold-out audience. The evening included acts performed by the tal-
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ents of Fiz Dance, Tindles ballet, the infant school choir, eight-yearold flautist Madeline Jordan, plus gorgeous vocal performances from Melbourne Juniors pupil Eva Gormley, 10, and Infant School head teacher Jo Sadler’s daughter Megan, 14. With Melbourne’s Chris Baggot acting as compere, and even an appearance of this year’s legendary “crumble song” performed in fine style by Katherine Parrish, all the drama of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent was there on the night of the show’s one-off performance – including buzzers, boos, much wild applause, based on the initial script and idea of Infant School mum Victoria Stringer. Melbourne’s Got Talent raised £752 for the school, which will be put to good use enhancing learning facilities.
PUB WINS ITS BID TO STAY OPEN LONGER l The judges, (l-r) Frank Hughes as David Walliams, Jenny Halliday as Amanda Holden, Mairead Bailey as Alesha Dixon and Andrew Horth as Simon Cowell with (right) Alesha and Simon (aka Mairead and Andrew) performing.
by Lucy Stephens
ONE of Melbourne’s pubs has won the right to stay open for half an hour longer every night. The Alma on Derby Road now has extended licensing hours which means drinkers can stay outside until 11pm every evening, rather than till 10.30pm under previous rules.
From Sunday to Thursday the pub will stay open an extra 30 minutes until 12.30am, with last orders at midnight. On Fridays and Saturdays opening hours have increased to 1.30am,
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with alcohol on sale until 1am, although pubgoers will not be allowed inside the door after 12.30am. The new hours were a reduction on what the Alma had originally asked for, which was to stay open until 1.30am from Monday to Thursday and 2.30am from Friday to Sunday – proposals which were cut back after talks with police. The original plans had also met with considerable opposition from people living near the pub, who felt the suggested hours were too late in a residential area. In a licensing meeting last month which lasted several hours, the Alma argued that the new hours were intended to allow existing customers to stay enjoying their drinks for longer, rather
than encourage new people through the door. Tim Shield, the lawyer speaking at the meeting on behalf of Alma owner Marston’s, said: “Yes, we are running a business but we actually just want to retain those customers we have.” But there was still some protest from those living nearby, who pointed out that since the Alma is in a conservation area no-one is allowed double glazing on their windows to cut out the noise. Local resident Steve Spear said the community had not been given the chance to comment on the amended hours because the fact that the police and the council’s environmental health department had dropped their objections – after the proposals were scaled back – was only made public knowledge on the day of the hearing.
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He also said it was “very disappointing from a public perspective” that neither the police nor environmental health department had turned up to explain their change in position as regards the Alma’s opening times since its last licence was granted in 2005. He told councillors that the Alma had been “well managed” since current landlady Paula Quinby took over three years ago, but said: “It’s not about the landlady, it’s about the potential which was there in 2005 and remains there.” But Mr Shield told councillors they could not base any decision about the Alma simply on the potential for disturbance, given there had been hardly any complaints.
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MoT TEST CENTRE SELECTION OF WORKSHOPS AND OFFICE SPACE TO RENT Castle Lane, Melbourne, Derby DE73 8DY Telephone 01332 862373
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