Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - Guildhall, Bath. View directions

Contact: Sean O'Neill  01225 395090

Items
No. Item

1.

EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROCEDURE

The Chair will draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out under Note 5 on the previous page.

Minutes:

The Democratic Services Officer read out the procedure.

2.

ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIR (IF DESIRED)

Minutes:

RESOLVED that a Vice-Chair was not required on this occasion.

3.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Cllr Douglas Nicol (substituted by Cllr Dine Romero) and Cllr Gabriel Batt (substituted by Cllr Tim Warren).

4.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

To receive any declarations from Members/Officers of personal/prejudicial interests in respect of matters for consideration at this meeting, together with their statements on the nature of any such interests declared.

Minutes:

There were none.

5.

TO ANNOUNCE ANY URGENT BUSINESS AGREED BY THE CHAIR

Minutes:

There was none.

6.

MINUTES: 23 APRIL 2012 pdf icon PDF 61 KB

Minutes:

These were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

7.

LICENSING PROCEDURE

The Chair will, if required, explain the licensing procedure.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair drew attention to the licensing procedure, copies of which had been made available to those attending the meeting.

8.

APPLICATION TO VARY A LICENCE FOR BATH FRINGE - SPIEGELTENT RECREATION GROUND, PULTENEY MEWS, BATHWICK BA2 4DS pdf icon PDF 50 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Applicant: Stephen Henwood (Co-Director of Bath Fringe)

 

Interested Parties: Pulteney Estates Residents’ Association (represented by Nigel Websper, Chairman)

 

Witnesses for Pulteney Estates Residents’ Association: Doug White, Caroline Greenwod, Rachel Hushon (in place of Paul Karakusevic, who had work commitments)

 

The parties confirmed that they had received and understood the licensing procedure.

 

The Licensing Officer summarised the application as set out in the report.

 

Mr Henwood stated the case for the applicant. He said that the reason for the application for extended hours was to retain customers who might drift off to other licensed premises once events had ended, and to be able to put on more than one show in an evening. It was planned to have one show finishing at 21.30 to be followed by a break and then another show, which would be at a lower volume and would help customers to wind down before leaving.

 

He stated that there was no intention of having high-volume, high-intensity music of the kind provided at party and club venues. He said Spiegeltent would only be at the Recreation Ground for 11 days a year. Sound levels inside and outside the tent would be monitored with a decibel meter during performances, to ensure that they remained reasonable. He believed that the sound levels that emanated from Spiegeltent were not high when compared with other venues in Bath. Bath Fringe tried to work co-operatively with the Licensing Authority and Environmental Health and no complaints about events had been forwarded by these agencies to Bath Fringe. Local residents were provided with a contact number for the on-site event manager.

 

The Interested Parties put questions to Mr Henwood. Mr Websper stated that residents were able to hear the performances inside the tent quite clearly, and asked how the volume of performances was controlled. Residents had told him that, after they had made complaints about noise, the volume had been reduced only to be turned up again later. Mr Henwood replied that volume levels were monitored.

 

Mrs Hushon said that on occasion when individual residents had complained about noise they had been told that there had been no complaints from anyone else, but at a later date it had come to light that others had complained about the same performance. She had been told by Bath Fringe staff “we do try to control the sound, but the bands override our volume settings”. She had small children who needed to sleep. Was Mr Henwood sure that the event managers could control the volume? Mr Henwood reiterated that no complaints had been received through Environmental Health, and that sound levels were monitored inside the tent and at the boundaries of the venue.

 

Mr White asked Mr Henwood whether he appreciated that the area in which the Recreation Ground was situated formed a natural amphitheatre, where sound, particularly the bass line of music, was amplified. Did Mr Henwood appreciate that many residents lived in listed buildings that could not be soundproofed? Mr Henwood replied  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.