Ayrshire pub refused licence after complaints about 'heavy beats' and 'karaoke'

Windy Ha in Saltcoats
-Credit: (Image: Google Maps)


The owner of a Saltcoats pub has been refused a licence after councillors heard there had been little improvement on concerns about noise from the premises since his last appearance in June.

But the door has been left open for the owner of the town's oldest pub to re-apply.

Windy Ha owner Sean Conaghan had been limited to applying for occasional licences since the board heard of concerns about noise from a neighbour, who lives in a flat above the pub.

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The neighbour said they had been asked by pub representatives to meet them for mediation.

However, on the day that was supposed to happen they and two others in their family had gone down with Covid and they did not want to spread the virus.

They suggested re-arranging the meeting but the pub representatives had not come back to them.

The complainant also said pictures confirmed that the speakers had been moved around in the premises but claimed it had made no difference to the sound.

Council Environmental Health representative, Stewart Mackenzie, said his department received complaints from two people in late May.

They checked the noise levels on June 28, June 29, July 20, July 26, July 27, August 2 and August 3.

Most of these were at night and the final one was starting from 2pm until 11pm.

They wrote to Mr Conaghan on August 8 to advise him that they believed there was a “noise of concern" coming from his premises with “loud music, karaoke, singing and heavy beats".

Further recordings were made on August 24 and 25, and on August 30 a message was sent out to say there was no improvement and that was a final warning.

They tried again another three times, but the pub was closed.

The next step would be a statutory nuisance notice issued if there was no improvement.

The complainant, who said they were representing other objectors in the area, added that the positioning of the site notice which had been a concern previously had been rectified, the ducts had been cleaned and rubbish had been sorted.

Mr Conaghan's legal representative Bill McMahon said there had been no music played beyond 11pm as agreed and inside the pub they had moved the speakers after consultation with a company who specialised in sound to see if that would help limit the noise.

The pub also sent a letter to tenants to invite them to text if there were any issues.

They had enquired about a limiter, but it was very expensive and could not be trialled.

Also they tried to put the speakers at an angle but this was not effective.

Cllr Christina Larsen put forward a motion that the application be refused and this was seconded by cllr Angela Stephen and agreed unanimously.

Licensing chair Eleanor Collier said: “The Board are not satisfied that you have dealt with the matters raised by the objectors.

“In terms of a refused licence, under the terms of the act you normally can’t apply for another year but we will waive that because if you are serious about running a professional and user-friendly business for the surrounding residents we will allow you to re-apply in the normal way before the year.

“We don’t feel that you have addressed the biggest of the licensing objectives which is preventing public nuisance. There are also concerns about protecting children and young people and securing public safety.

“Though we are refusing, we appreciate it is one of the oldest pubs in Scotland. We like to support businesses where we can, but can’t support a business who have not demonstrated that they can run a professional business according to the licensing laws and objectives.”