Albert publican denies the venue is violent

Two venues from the New England North West are on the most recent list of the state's violent venues.

Armidale HQ and the Albert Hotel in Tamworth are both on the list, after recording 12 assault incidents each.

This puts the venues in the Level Two category, meaning they are required to cease service of alcohol 30 minutes prior to close, not serve in glass containers after midnight, and have either a 10 minute alcohol sales time out every hour after midnight, or actively distribute food and water.

The Imperial Hotel in Tamworth has been removed from the list.

Albert Hotel publican Nick Weir said he hasn't had a serious incident in six months, and the list is out of date.

"Every late trading venue in this town, we've all been on this list at one point in time," he said.

"We're a much bigger target than the day traders who finish at 10pm.

"I'm not making excuses, I completely disagree with violence, but you can quote this on me: I have not had an incident in my pub in 6 months."

He said a small group of troublemakers are to blame.

"I can only ban people on what they've done, not what they're about to do," Mr Weir said.

"I have more than enough security guards, and RSA marshals and floor managers and everything on that I need, but we have no crystal ball that tells us that someone is going to be a problem.

"I'm putting on the entertainment and I'm encouraging everybody to have a good time and do it legally and responsibly and it's the minority of people who screw up and ruin it for everybody."

Oxley Local Area Command Licensing Sergeant, Graeme Elms, disputes this.

"If there's a few bad eggs, what are they doing in the hotel?" he said.

"[The publican] can kick anyone out that he wants.

"Having a hotel is no different to you being at your own place and someone is there that you're not happy with and you can ask them to leave, because at the end of the day, the licensees wear it.

"There's a number of late traders in Tamworth that run a very good show, they don't allow the bad eggs in, they run fantastic businesses, and that's the difference."

Source:   ABC News - 5th December 2014