Jazz club faces closure after just one complaint

4:10pm Thursday 16th December 2004

A WORLD-renowned jazz venue in the borough has been served with a noise abatement order that could force its closure after 45 years. The Bulls Head, which has heard international artists playing every night of the week for years, has until February 15 to keep the sound levels down.

However, Youngs brewers claim that to soundproof the Barnes pub would cost around £172,000, which they cannot afford.

A block of flats was built next door and, during the planning stages of the development, preservation of the passageway between the pub and the police station was refused. Objections were lodged by the landlord noting that performances in the studio would be likely to disturb potential neighbours without the air gap of the passageway, Youngs added.

At the same time Richmond upon Thames Council approved a change in use of the site from light-industrial to residential. One resident of the new Laing Homes development, Stephanie Fallows, complained to Richmond council about the noise last month.

Noise readings were taken and a statutory nuisance was established. A noise abatement notice was served on November 15.

The landlord of the pub for the past 23 years, Dan Fleming, said of the possible outcome: "It would be dreadful, having spent 23 years building it up and keeping it going and bringing people in from all over the world.

"All the wonderful people who have played here go back years. The people at the council would not listen to plans which would have made a difference to the sound, they were not interested. This is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Richmond. We have had to cancel events. We don't play loud rock music, it is acoustic music. This order has been thrust upon us and it is only one lady who has complained.

"We have done our best to keep the music down. On February 15 if we have not managed to solve the problem, we have to cease. Someone cycled over from Kingston with his dog to say how sad he was to hear this. I was choked. You have to take your hat off to anyone who makes that commitment."

Michael Hardman, of Youngs, who the abatement order has been served on, said: "Estimates to get the pub soundproofed would be around £172,000. We just can't invest that amount of money.

"We feel very aggrieved because we have only had one complaint out of the entire population of Barnes. The jazz does not make money but it would be like taking a man's leg off.

"It is a very successful, very well run pub. I expect Dan and his wife must be heartbroken. We feel very sorry for them. We are still looking at other possibilities."

The council have confirmed that the notice required abatement of the problem within a three month period. It did not forbid the playing of live jazz, just the reduction of disturbance to people living nearby.

There are a range of ways for minimising noise emissions and the council has been in discussion with the brewery over possible measures to reduce the noise to an acceptable level. A cost of about £5,000 has been estimated by the council to replace the doors and carry out acoustic work on the ventilation, not £172,000 to soundproof the entire building.

A spokesperson said: "Concerning the planning aspect, the nearby development was determined solely on its planning merits. It is not unusual to have pubs located close to residential developments and both be good neighbours.

"A condition of the planning consent was that a scheme for protecting noise from the neighbouring public-house be submitted and approved by the local planning authority. Such a scheme was submitted and approved by the council. The developer was then required to implement such a scheme in accordance with the planning condition.

"Applicants have the option of employing either the council's building control section to carry out the building regulations inspection of the development or an authorised private building surveyor. The latter option was chosen by the developers for this development, so the council surveyors did not inspect the structure during construction."

Laing Homes say that all requirements attached to the planning consent for the building were adhered to.

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