Noise Abatement Notice Would be a ‘Massive Blow’ to Live Music at the Star Inn

Published on: 28 Jul, 2018
Updated on: 29 Jul, 2018

The Star Inn, Quarry Street

By Will Parsons

Historic pub and live music venue, the Star Inn, on Quarry Street, is under threat from a noise abatement notice that could severely limit its freedom to provide live entertainment.

Management of the pub said such a notice would be a “massive blow”, which has hosted live acts since “at least the 1950s” and would leave the pub “fundamentally changed”.

Guildford Borough Council (GBC) officials have confirmed in a letter to Shepherd Neame, the brewery company that owns the pub, that it is drafting the notice after a complaint from a property developer over noise from the Star’s “Back Room” venue.

The Star Back Room – Members of a Guildford Fringe show can be seen preparing

The issue first arose three years ago, when developer Neil Young submitted a planning application to convert empty office space on Mill Lane, near the Back Room into flats. At the time, Shepherd Neame objected on the basis that installing flats so close to a live venue was impractical and could lead to a noise complaint, but the application was accepted nonetheless.

The developers issued a noise complaint to GBC in May this year. It was feared that the complaint could lead to a noise abatement notice, which would endanger the pub, since, according to Shepherd Neame, live acts account for approximately 40% of the pub’s revenue.

The “Back Room” at the Star

By June, an online petition set up in support of the pub had garnered over 20,000 signatures, and, on 26 May, GBC leader Paul Spooner threw his support behind the Star, tweeting: “I am very happy to state publically [sic] that I FULLY support @StarBackroom and the leadership at @GuildfordBC fully support this venue. No abatement notice has been issued and I will engage with Officers when they return from the Bank Holiday Weekend to resolve asap.”

However, in a press release issued last week, the Star Inn declared it had heard nothing from the council leader since. Instead, GBC sent Shepherd Neame a letter at the end of June, notifying the brewer that a noise abatement notice is being drafted to be issued against the pub.

The rear of the converted offices – just feet from the pub’s live music area.

The letter states that “…Council officers are of the opinion that the noise generated from the entertainment in the backroom of the pub currently amounts to a statutory nuisance affecting properties in Mill Lane…”

The letter also recommends measures that management at the Star Inn should take to limit the “nuisance”. These include: reducing the volume of music and entertainment; reducing the hours of music and entertainment; keeping windows and doors closed; and carrying out checks of the site boundary every half hour during entertainment to monitor for any “noise breakout”.

Star Inn manager Georgina Baker said: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the support we’ve had from everyone and when Cllr Spooner said he’d resolve the issue we were delighted, but now it seems they’re going ahead with this, just to please a property developer.”

Ms Baker told The Guildford Dragon NEWS, that a noise abatement notice would be a “massive blow” to the pub.

“[A] huge amount of our trade comes directly and indirectly from having a venue,” she said. “It could potentially make the pub less profitable and it is therefore at risk of being fundamentally changed from the pub we all know and love into something with far less soul.”

The pub claims it has been entertaining locals “for more than 400 years”. The Star was the venue for the first official gig of punk rock band the Stranglers, who formed in Guildford and since became one of the most successful UK punk bands.

Ms Baker said, further, that: “[Live entertainment] has massive historical significance to the pub, we know the music venue has been running since at least the 1950s, making it the longest continually running venue in the town. It is also of great importance to the community both as a venue for bands to learn their craft and get vital live experience and also as a fantastic social and networking hub.”

Cllr Paul Spooner.

Invited to comment, Cllr Spooner said he remains “strongly supportive of the Star Inn.”

He continued: “I am doing all I can along with the lead member responsible, Cllr Graham Ellwood (Con, Merrow), to resolve the situation. I understand that officers have not issued a noise abatement notice to date. Whilst I accept and understand that officers must follow the law the circumstances are very unfortunate indeed.

“Whilst this is an active investigation I cannot make further comment at this time.”

Ms Baker urged any supporters of the Star to “keep up the pressure on the council” and “Let them know how important The Star and its live music is to the community.”

The chairman of Guildford’s Liberal Democrats in a letter (Lib Dems Support The Star’s Fight to Keep Their Music Licence) to The Dragon wrote “Live music is the lifeblood of the music industry. Guildford is well known for supporting the music industry. Generations of musicians, artists and recording engineers have been inspired by the scene here and gone on to develop their skills at the ACM, The Boileroom, schools and at the university.

“It appears that the Conservative government has belatedly realised that their rush to create homes by allowing offices to be converted to flats under permitted development rights was far from ideal in town centre locations.”

GBC’s Lib Dem Group Leader Caroline Reeves, added: “These changes are too late for The Star. We have seen the damage caused by the conversion of offices to flats in the town centre where the previous office use has meant there’s little regard for storage or removal of refuse or amenity space.

“We need to find a way around the licensing legislation in order to protect long-established businesses who are damaged by this unwise change to planning regulations in 2013.”

The Star Inn will also be hosting two “Save our Star” concerts to raise awareness of the issue and fund-raise for the Music Venue Trust, which supports threatened live music venues.

The first, on Sunday, August 5, will be headlined by End of Salvation.

Tickets will cost £5 on the door, beginning 7pm. The second, on August 11, is free and will run from 3pm, with more acts and acoustic performances being held outside the venue.

More information can be found on the Star’s Facebook page.

Responses to Noise Abatement Notice Would be a ‘Massive Blow’ to Live Music at the Star Inn

Jim Allen Reply

July 28, 2018 at 11:27 pm

Secondary glazing (not double) in the flats is the first thing to try but the residents knew the venue was located next door.
- C Nicholls Reply
  
  August 2, 2018 at 1:16 pm
  
  Some residents were in place before the live music nights started. I presume no one would not like their sleep disturbed, night after night, to the point you get up tired and feeling unable to do your job or enjoy your free time out of work.
  
  If you attend a music night to enjoy the music yourself it is a very different experience to hearing the background thump, thump, continuously in the background, when you are trying to do something else. This kind of noise has been classified by health experts as a significant cause of stress.
  
  It is too easy to say just try double glazing. No one has any idea what anyone else is suffering unless they too are in that situation. I am sure if something like this affected Jim Allen and his family, or if his children couldn’t sleep night after night he would not hesitate to try and do something about it.
  
  I think he would find it less than helpful when just because it was a pub everyone else didn’t seem to think it mattered.
  
  If it matters to you and it’s affecting your health, it matters!
David Rose Reply

July 29, 2018 at 9:04 am

From a local history point of view and interest, I would be interested in any details of live music and bands playing at the Star specifically in the 1950s, or the 1960s even?

There is no mention of it in Nigel Enever’s comprehensive book Guildford The Rock ‘n’ Roll Years. (Nigel played in local bands in the 1960s and knows many of the musicians from that period).

The earliest recorded mention of a Guildford inn by the name of the Star is 1723.

However, the function room was added in the 1840s and was originally called the Court Room.

It was never a court of law as such, but the meeting room of the Guildford Castle Court of the Ancient Order of Foresters – a friendly society, formed in 1834, providing its members with savings policies.