Late night music events to be allowed at Monmouthshire barn, despite noise fears

Music events will be allowed to be held at a rural barn in Monmouthshire, despite fears that noise could cause disturbance to residents during the night.

Councillors have approved an application for a premises licence at a stone barn in Llanvetherine, near Abergavenny, which will allow live and recorded music to be played until 6am during the summer.

The plans are to use the barn, located on a a 141-acre farm, for private parties and events such as weddings, as well as events where musicians will play to an audience of up to 500 people.

Any events with larger audiences would need to be considered separately by Monmouthshire council’s Event Safety Advisory Group.

Monmouthshire council’s environmental heath department objected to the proposal due to concerns the late night events could cause ‘disturbance’ to residents.

The nearest home is about 180-metres away, but officers fear the plan could still give rise to complaints due to the quiet nature of the area.

At a Monmouthshire licensing and regulatory sub-committee meeting on Tuesday, Huw Owen, the council’s principal environmental health officer, said: “If you were lying in bed under such conditions of peace and quiet, and you can just perceive some music in the background, that’s the sort of level, potentially 19, 20 decibels, it could be.

“Of course we all know that at two, three, four in the morning if we can perceive something in the background that is not typical to the character of the area then potentially it can give rise to disturbance and complaint.”

Anthony Davies, environmental health officer, said events were planned on consecutive weekends from April to September, and raised concerns over the cumulative impact on residents.

However solicitor Heath Thomas, representing the applicant Huw Evans, said there was “an absence of evidence” to support the environmental heath department’s concerns.

He said Mr Evans had upgraded the barn with sound insulation, and that noise limiting devices would be in place which would mean the music cannot be heard in the nearest homes.

Most of the music events would be by invitation only and performers would be made aware of the noise limits, Mr Thomas said, adding the applicant’s background is in electronic dance music.

“The perception that this is otherwise going to become sort of rave culture is misconceived,” he said.

The application proposed live and recorded music, as well as alcohol sales, from midday to midnight on Fridays, and from midnight until 6am on Saturday and Sunday.

At the licensing meeting, Mr Evans he would be willing to change the hours on Saturday and Sunday to until 1am, instead of 6am from September 30 until March 31.

From April 1 until September 30 the hours will be until 6am.