As Kings Cross gets on its feet it is important to retain a balance between residential and leisure use. Uncontrolled leisure use causes external costs that are born by the community – such as noise and litter. If lanlords of pubs were made to carry these costs themselves, there would be less mess and noise.
The old Backpacker on York Way had a very chequered history of noise, mess and out of control public drunkenness. The pub has reopened as the Cross Kings under new management and applied for a licence to open until 0200 on thursday nights/Friday mornings.
But the changes the new management described to residents are not readily visible. We are not sure how many people will congregate drinking outside. On a precautionary principle a local resident has objected to the 0200 licence – this is a sensible move until we are certain what this new pub is up to. There is an emphasis on snack food but it is too early to tell how things will turn out. See objection attached. Download backpacker_cross_kings.doc
Kings Cross Environment 
I personally think the new bar is great for the area. The Backpacker just bussed in drunken Antipodoeans for binge sessions.
Having a later licence also means that there won’t be a sudden glut of people thrown out at 11pm. Can’t we have places to drink after this witching hour?
We appreciate that in the past residents have had many problems with drunken behavior, noise, mess etc. We would like to make clear that we do not endorse binge drinking. We wish to be a part of the local community and provide you with a congenial setting in which to socialise.
Our background is in food – real food of a restaurant standard – which is cooked fresh every morning with an emphasis on local and, where possible, organic ingredients.
The opening hours on the license have not been changed. Our only amendment was to apply for permission to show films.
We would like to take this opportunity to welcome all local residents to come in and have a cup of coffee with us. We hope this puts your mind at rest.
If you have any problems, call us: 0207 278 8318
I also welcome the Cross Kings to the area. It looks like a great place and I hope it succeeds.
I am really glad to read Alistair and Jason’s comments. I am going to drop-in and say hullo to the new owners because the bar has a nice quirky look and it seems to be patronised by a friendly and responsible clientelle. It could scarcely be more different to the Backpacker. As their chalkboard said on Sunday “Friendly food; organic staff”. Dare I say it, the bar looked almost too quiet so I hope their trade at other times is doing OK.