Posted: Mon 3rd Aug 2020

Flint hotel owner given green light to play outdoor music after councillor criticises neighbours who made complaint

News and Info from Deeside, Flintshire, North Wales
This article is old - Published: Monday, Aug 3rd, 2020

A hotel owner has received permission to play music for outdoor diners after a licensing chair criticised neighbours who complained about noise from the premises.

A virtual meeting was held on Friday to consider three temporary event notices applied for by Yan Chan, who runs Flint’s Mountain Park Hotel.

It followed a pollution prevention officer from Flintshire Council raising an objection after receiving a complaint about the volume of the music from the owners of a nearby property.

Dave Jones said they could no longer enjoy sitting in their garden because of the issue.

However, Tony Sharps, chair of the local authority’s licensing committee later accused them of wanting the business shut down.

Speaking at the start of the meeting, Mr Chan said he had taken steps to reduce the sounds which can be heard from the hotel since he was made aware of the complaint.

He added playing the “chilled out music” was necessary to entertain people eating outside at the premises and to keep him trading during the coronavirus crisis.

He said: “We’re continuing to go through this pandemic and our business has been closed for four months.

“We’ve done a lot of work in getting our outdoor area ready which it is.

“I believe that we’ve become a central hub for the community where people can meet up and relax. We’ve been able to social distancing our table seating.

“The first thing I want to do is apologise in relation to the music because I wasn’t aware it was too loud.

“If the person who made the complaint had informed me, I would’ve been really happy to turn the music down.”

Mr Chan said he now carries out checks checks after turning the music on to see if it can be heard near the neighbour’s fence.

The notices were originally put forward around a fortnight ago to request permission to play music between 12pm and 10pm from August 6th to the 8th, the 13th to the 16th and from the 20th to the 23rd.

Mr Jones said he understood the difficulties Mr Chan was facing because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But he said the scale of events held outside the hotel was making life difficult for his neighbours.

He said: “I appreciate the music has gone down to a degree, but we’re still left with a nuisance.

“The people next door, it’s spoilt the enjoyment of their property completely and they can’t sit outside without hearing all the noise from this new venture.

“They’re prevented from use of the garden to have meals and have friends round.

“They can even hear the noise inside the house, so I feel that having all the extra people at the premises is detrimental to the amenity of their property.”

Both men were cross-examined during the meeting as Mr Chan told the committee he had always been a responsible business owner.

Since he opened the hotel, he said he’d been able to provide employment for eight extra staff members, with more to follow.

Mr Jones was insistent he did not think it would be possible for music to be played without causing a disturbance.

However, both the officer and the complainant were rebuked by Cllr Sharps.

He said: “You (Mr Jones) have received one complaint from what is quite a large estate surrounding this hotel.

“I get the impression that these neighbours who live close to the property will not be happy unless the whole premises is shut down.

“In your submission, you use the word presume and you’ve presumed everything I’ve listened to today.

“You don’t know basically, do you? You didn’t visit the premises until Wednesday to get ready for today to tell us what your opinion was.”

The sub committee voted to grant permission for the notices at the end of the debate, subject to the music being stopped by 9pm on the dates outlined instead of 10pm.

Addressing the hotel owner, Cllr Sharps added: “We would like you to carry out strict management of the site and make sure nothing untoward is happening appertaining to loud music.

“That’s an express request from the panel, but otherwise the report stands with the alterations of 9pm instead of 10pm.”

Liam Randall – Local Democracy Reporter (more here).

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