13:16 > Tuesday 9th February 2010
Later pub hours get residents' Goat
25 October 2007
ANGRY residents say they have been let down by St Albans district councillors who agreed to later drinking hours for a city pub.
They now say they plan to band together to appeal against the new hours at The Goat in Sopwell Lane.
The pub had wanted to stay open until 1am on Saturdays, 11pm on a Sundays and midnight Wednesday to Friday.
The council's licensing sub-committee refused the extension until 1am on Saturdays but has allowed The Goat to stay open until midnight from Wednesday to Saturday and also agreed
That live can be played from 7pm until midnight on the same days with recorded music allowed until 11pm on Sundays.
Elderly residents Angus and Eileen Davies, who have lived in Albert Street for 50 years, are dreading the onslaught of noise and disturbance which they fear will affect their health. Their garden backs onto the pub and they are frequently disturbed by smokers using the pub garden until late,
Angus, aged 73, said: "My wife cannot walk and is mainly housebound and I suffer from angina and allied breathing problems. I can't sit out in my garden with the smokers now because it affects my breathing.
"I am not a selfish person and I want people to enjoy themselves but we are dreading the onslaught of live music. It's bad enough on quiz nights when it's like we are in the room. We can hear all the questions."
Other residents in the road have complained that their young children wake them early in the morning when they have been kept awake until late by pub patrons.
Chris Bennett of Albert Street said: "Music causes us serious noise disturbance both in our house and in our garden and would cause us the loss of enjoyment of our house and garden."
"The presence of an open yard at the rear of The Goat less than five metres from my back door means that any patrons of the pub drinking in the yard and being noisy are a serious disturbance as there are no built structures to contain any noise."
Councillor Tony Swendell, who sat on the committee, said they could only go by the evidence put before them on the day and had to operate within strict guidelines on the advice of a solicitor.
He said: "Our deliberations are further complicated now by the smoking ban which forces people outside pubs late at night. But I would advise unhappy residents to keep a diary with dates and times of disturbances and police crime numbers where relevant as anecdotal evidence cannot be relied upon. If the residents are unhappy they do have the right of appeal to the magistrates court.
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