Landlord of Birmingham pub The Rainbow attacks council over apartments
Mar 25 2009 by Anna Blackaby, Birmingham Post
noise assessment where noise from industrial or commercial sources is likely to be audible at the proposed development.
But in the case of the Abacus apartments in Digbeth, Birmingham City Council did not require the developer Concept Development Solutions to submit a noise report.
The council said this was because, in the opinion of the environmental health officer looking after the case, any industrial and commercial noise had declined in the area.
John Tighe, landlord of nearby pub The Spotted Dog which received a Noise Abatement Order in 2007 because of complaints from the Abacus building, has also criticised the council for not obliging the developer to carry out the survey which would have picked up on noise coming from local pubs.
He said the decision was made at a time when The Spotted Dog had been putting on live music both inside the pub and in its garden for many years and other venues in the area, such as The Rainbow and the Custard Factory, were open and known to be noisy.
The Rainbow has recently been obliged to turn the volume of its music down to satisfy Birmingham City Council requirements.
“We have turned down the volume and we will monitor it but if a complaint is made and the council considers us to be a noise nuisance – and it is a subjective issue down to the officer who is called out – we will be served with a Noise Abatement Order.”
Mr Kent said noise mitigation works on the pub would be the only option to comply with any order, as volumes could not be turned down any lower.
“We are a noisy pub – that is what we do. People don’t come here for ambient music – ours is a music venue We have turned it down to the lowest level we feel is possible for our customers.”
The threat hanging over The Rainbow has sparked a fierce debate among the Digbeth community and a show of solidarity among venue owners and music promoters in the area.
In a recent column in the Birmingham Post Simon Jones, managing director of The Factory Club and co-director of Custard Factory Spaces questioned whether the promise of the council to enter a dialogue about how to maintain Digbeth as a vibrant area was genuine.
He called the situation a “the start of a war of attrition between new developers coming into these key areas and those already carving out the culture of the city.”
He said: “It seems that the people responsible for selling Birmingham as an investment are prepared to meet their targets at the expense of the city’s existing operators – even the ones that provide the “cultural and recreational facilities” highlighted in The Big City Plan’s Global Themes.”
