Make Some Noise: Surrey licensee urges councils to communicate better over noise disputes
Dominique Frazer, who runs the Enterprise Inns-owned Boileroom in Guildford, Surrey, said her willingness to compromise was key to coming out of the licence reviews “fairly unscathed” but urged authorities to communicate better with pubs and residents.
She is the latest licensee to support the Publican’s Morning Advertiser’s Make Some Noise campaign, which aims to unite the industry in calling for an agent of change principle, where people moving next to existing pubs would be responsible for soundproofing their homes.
The Boileroom was taken to a licence review on 19 September and once previously in 2007 due to noise complaints from residents.
Frazer suggested new licence conditions, including closing the garden earlier, increasing outside security and reducing the music’s decibel level — but wished she had heard about residents’ concerns sooner.
She applied for a later licence in March after finding out from the council that there had only been three complaints about the venue since 2010 and no complaints when she had used Temporary Event Notices.
But following the failed attempt to extend her hours, she said 37 “end-of-their-tether” complaints came from residents.
'Big issue'
“How can the business improve if I don’t know anything is wrong?” she said. “There is a big issue with environmental health and licensing departments’ communication with pubs. The residents were getting really annoyed but not telling me, and environmental health didn’t pass anything on.”
She said her own CCTV footage was vital, as an audio recording submitted by a resident had been taken just outside the Boileroom, not from inside their home.
“I could have been saved about £7,000 in fighting this if environmental health had told residents that was wrong, as they misinterpreted the licensing condition and thought no noise should come from the venue. Mediation should have been the first port of call — instead of pushing for review, I could have had a cup of tea with residents and sorted it out.”
Guildford Borough Council licensing and governance lead councillor Paul Spooner said: “The licensing sub-committee carefully considered evidence regarding the case for review. The new conditions have been set to address the concerns raised.”
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