Is anyone else bothered by the late night noise caused since the Chandos opened under new management? It's now open til 2 on a Friday and 1 on a Saturday and with the Karaoke and live music (and customers smoking and drinking outside) it's causing us real late night noise issues!
Yes, we're getting disturbed by this too. A grab of their licence according to the Lewisham council website is attached. This looks more like city centre hours than a pub in a residential area. And on top of that, they're not keeping to it - there was still music being played at 12.30am today and on Friday 24 July they were still going at 2am Saturday.
I don't know the process for querying a licence but I'll drop the council a line. There are 2 issues:
- whether the licence is appropriate for the location of the pub
- whether the licensee is sticking to it
Generally as a pub it seems to be ok (although wish it went the way of the Honor oak). But it seems to be turning into a club- without the necessary noise prevention and sound isolation. Problems are
1) doesn't stick to its opening hours for the loud music
2) is particularly bad in keeping its doors open (heat/entry exit) thus there is no barrier to the booming speakers.
If the premise license specifies certain time limits for an activity and these are exceeded, then the Council licensing officers can take enforcement action, including the withdrawal of the licence.
Environmental Health would also no doubt have a view about a level of noise that caused a nuisance in the small hours.
I think you need to contact the Council's licensing department to establish the facts about the license and ask for monitoring to be undertaken.
Also, it's worthwhile for those affected to keep a diary in which to list the date and times of anything which is perceived to be a nuisance. This information can be presented in evidence at a hearing.
It's also worth talking to the police. They haven't been the licensing authority for many years, but they do have rights of audience at licensing hearings and their views are routinely sought.
Just a thought, but have any of you actually gone in there, had a pint and then spoken with the landlord/lady? Pretty sure if you did and let them know directly about your concerns then they can try and prevent any over run in the future. Seems very sly to run off straight to the council especially as the new owners have done a great job in turning around the place.
I have never been able to decide what the "right" course of action is in cases like this.
On the one hand it is polite to approach the person yourself and raise the issue informally.
On the other hand, they agreed to terms for their licencing, and went beyond them. There are services such as noise abatement, EH, and others to deal with this, so why not use them.
Its an awkward one, as if the matter turns ugly, and gets into a bit of a battle, the person in the wrong knows exactly who "grassed"
Tough one, but hope the matter gets dealt with amicably, and so there are no losers.