Noise levels at a West Lothian rugby club’s annual summer dance are set to be monitored by council officers after concerns were raised by a neighbour.
Linlithgow rugby club has agreed to have Environmental Health officers monitor the volume at social events planned around the town’s Marches festival later this year.
A lawyer told the West Lothian Licensing Board the club was happy to comply with sound level checks proposed after measurements were taken at planned social events in a training facility at the Mains Road facility.
The venue has been used for an Eve of Marches dinner each June for the last two years. Other events include a rugby sevens tournament and a Moon dance which raises funds for cancer charities.
Gary McMullan Clerk to the Board told a meeting that there had been one objection from a neighbour to the application for five occasional licences for events to be held in an indoor training facility. The applications cover a series of events between 26 May and 14 June.
Andrew Hunter, an agent for the club told councillors: “The objection from the neighbouring property is very much about amplified music. There’s only three of the events that have any amplified music.”
These are the Eve of Marches dance on the 6 June, the Moon Dance on 14 June and at a beer tasting festival in May.
Mr Hunter said the events had developed over time from being held in a marquee to moving indoors to the training centre.
“Occasional licences are still considered by my clients to be the most appropriate to cover these events,” he added.
He said that the club preferred annual applications for occasional licences because these were the only events the club hosted in a year, and it had and had no intention of hosting regular music events in the training centre.
“You’ll see the noise control measures the club intends to put in place for the events. That ranges from the sound deadening within the premises, the location of stage wall to mitigate impact,the control of doors and the measurement of sound at key locations in the evening.”
He added that the club had spoken to the council about Environmental; Heath monitoring the sound levels at the first event of the year to agree on a base level of sound.
Brian Carmichael, an Environmental Health officer told the meeting that he was happy to be involved in establishing a reasonable base line and added: “Bearing in mind there will be an impact whatever level we come up with at the end of the day whether it is a public nuisance is a matter for the Board to decide.”
Mr Carmichael said there was insufficient evidence from last year’s events to warrant council action under the Environmental Protection Act. To prosecute for noise nuisance the noise levels would have to be “intolerable to the average person.”
After a short adjournment for private debate the Board agreed to grant the five occasional licences with conditions first imposed last year and added the new condition that Environmental Health monitor and establish “reasonable base level” to work from.
By Stuart Sommerville, Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
