News / Kingsdown
Pub wins battle over complaints of ‘noisy’ beer garden
A pub in Bristol is facing noise complaints from neighbours who moved in next to the beer garden.
But councillors have backed the Kingsdown Vaults and declined to review its premises licence despite requests from neighbours to restrict the hours when customers can drink there.
Helene Turon and Neil Chapman say the pub was quieter when they moved into their home in Kingsdown in 2020 and the garden was not in use then.
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However since the lockdown ended the pub garden has become much noisier, so they requested Bristol City Council review the licence.
They wanted the garden to close at 7pm and a maximum of 12 customers allowed at once.
Five other people jointly applied for the licence review too, but did not attend a licensing hearing on Thursday.
However councillors did hear from other residents living nearby, who supported the pub.
Chapman said: “It interferes with our reasonable enjoyment of our gardens and flats. It is like the pub guests have been invited into our own gardens and houses. It’s not our intention to close down the pub.”
He added that cigarette smoke and foul language in the pub’s garden was a nuisance. The pub already closes the garden at 10pm, although its licence actually lets it stay open later.
Turon added: “We can hear every word of their conversations. In our garden it’s impossible to read at the weekend and it’s impossible to have lunch and hear ourselves and have our own conversation.
“It’s very different from gentle chatter, it’s a lot of noise. I used to live next to a pub, and it was never a problem.”
Pubs are struggling at the moment for a number of reasons, and a nearby pub, the Green Man, recently closed down.
Three local residents who live nearby came to the hearing to speak in support of the Kingsdown Vaults.
They said that although Kingsdown was a residential area, the neighbourhood is also very close to the city centre so some level of noise should be expected.
Jim Fox, a local resident, said: “We’ve just seen the Green Man round the corner close down. So to have further restrictions placed on the few friendly pubs we have just seems to be a backward step.
“We don’t think it’s an area where there’s rowdy fights. I used to live in the centre, down in the docks area, and you would see every weekend people coming into the centre and there being trouble. I’ve never seen problems in the Kingsdown Vaults.”
Anybody can ask the council to review the premises licence of places like pubs, bars or clubs, if they reckon the four licensing objectives are not being followed.
These are: preventing crime and disorder, public safety, preventing public nuisance, and protecting children from harm. As a last resort, councillors can revoke a premises licence, which effectively bans the sale of alcohol.
Jeremy Woodcroft, representing the Kingsdown Vaults, said: “The garden is a fundamental contribution to the viability of the premises.
“Way above simply being a smoking area, it is critical on a bright summer’s evening. People will choose to go elsewhere if there isn’t an outside area available.”
There were no concerns raised from Avon and Somerset Police nor the council’s neighbourhood enforcement team, which deals with noise complaints.
Councillors said there were no grounds to review the licence, and decided not to impose any new restrictions.
Main photo: Karen Johnson
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