Council slated after venue axed
Wednesday 14th January 2009, 12:50PM GMT.
The Albert, in Shrewsbury, was a popular venue for live music
Residents and music lovers have hit out at a Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council decision which led to the closure of a town pub.
The Albert in Shrewsbury was revamped last year with a dedicated upstairs room for bands, called the B-side. But after environmental health bosses slapped the venue with a noise abatement notice managers decided to close the doors.
- See also: Thanks, council, for killing the music
The notice means the Smithfield Road pub could not play music which causes a nuisance to neighbours.
Pub manager Chris Allen said the ruling made it difficult to hold music nights.
Dozens of people have left their comments on the Shropshire Star website.
Reader Guy Phillips emailed Shropshirestar.com to say how the closure had angered him.
He said: “Chris and Simon are very good friends of mine and have been for a number of years. They’ve tried to do something FOR this town and have had it shoved back in their faces by a council that is so out of touch with, not just the young people of the town, but a whole cross section of people.
“I’ve only recently moved back to Shrewsbury after living abroad for a number of years and it’s quite amazing to see that practically nothing has changed as far as having a decent little venue for young bands to play.
“Chris and Simon came along, spent a bit of money and got the Albert up and running. Then got shafted by the council.”
Mr Phillips said some nearby residents had praised the way the pub was being run, and he said it had given young people somewhere to go. “I know someone that has gone to Cardiff University. She doesn’t want to come back to Shrewsbury even in her holiday time as there’s nothing to do. Brilliant.”
But David Wraith, SABC environmental health manager, said a complaint was received and an investigation carried out.
He said: “The matter was considered with their application for amendments to their premises licence prior to Christmas, which was not granted.”
Mr Wraith said he himself had listened to a recording and would consider the level of noise coming from the Albert a nuisance.
But Susie Hinton, who lives opposite, said: “We used to be plagued with 12 hour karaoke sessions, people fighting outside, the doors being left wide open and it basically being a pub you’d never go into.”
She said since then it had been transformed with “more consideration for the neighbours”.
- What’s your view? Give your opinion in our comment box below.
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I agree with Guy, the Council are SO out of touch with people under the age of 50 in this town. Ask yourself, how many up and coming bands are playing at the new Theatre Severn? How about none? So much for a new facility that caters for all!!
From reading the above report, it sounds like one complaint was received and the SABC fun police made their decision based on a recording which the SABC Head of Misery Promotion listened to and, in his opinion only, considered it a nuisance. I would like to know if they ever went there personally and judged for themselves.
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With the ecnomic climate being as it is you would expect the council to be supportive of a thriving business. No what do Shrewsbury council do stamp out the life of anything they happen not to like.
Newsflash we can’t all be interested in Flowers!!!
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My boyfriends band (CCL) were lucky enough to play here and they loved it, it was an ideal venue and a good night out.
Its a real shame.
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I enjoy seeing local bands and this is just crazy,
nice venue,nice people running it.
I wont be rushing back to Shrewsbury what is there
apart from the Buttermarket,poor choice of Beer and toilets that are dirty and dont lock.
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for the record – I applaud the Shropshire Star for continuing this story.
So often in the past fox hunting debates have taken the headlines to the point readers what to read no more.
This is of local interest and of interest to many at heart.
Ill say it again.. there is a philosophy of life on BE WHO YOU WANT TO BE.
A large proportion of the youth in this fine town actually do not want to conform to wearing the required shoes or correct shirt to get into the likes of Liquid night club.
For every heavy metal fan, people who love classical music should be given equal opportunity to follow their passion.
Live music, be it Barry Manilow, Kim Weston or Will Young singing is a fundemental part of society.
Too many fights break out in town as the youngsters have no direction. Following music did me no harm when I was young sitting on the floor of the legendary Fridge nightclub.
Why is 2008 so different from 1988?
I fondly listen to stories from the oldies telling me when The Beatles came to town. I fondly remember seeing many bands in pubs and clubs as I grew up.. but not any more.
What is the agenda of the council? Simply to be yes men to the moaning NIMBYS who seem to rule the vote these days, or actually provide or simply allow the residents in the town they represent the chance to experience live music, entertainment and mixing with others.
I used to be one of these fuddy duddys who thought the youth were time wasters and wasted their lives binge drinking, but its evident that the council these people are represented do nothing to encourage other forms of entertainment.
For all the famous Percy Throwers who stayed local, there is always the Carol Deckers of this world who was a local girl and made it and never came back. Carol – I don’t blame you girl. I think its fair to say that this council has no Heart and Soul.
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If the council had any way of thinking ‘outside the box’ {which they don’t} they’d use Chris Allen with his contacts in the music business at the new theatre whilst allowing him to retain his licence at the pub perhaps in a more ‘restrained’ capacity. Why are young people {amongst which I cannot count myself!} of a certain ‘rebellious’ image considered unworthy of peer group entertainment and the new theatre blue rinsed curtain twitchers and sunday lawn mowers are?
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Have to agree with Wendy! The Buttermarket is a big disappointment these days. No atmosphere, The beer is expensive, the place is bereft of heating and whoever books the bands {bring back Dave ‘Bertie’ Bassett!} only seems to have Dreadzone and Bad Manners CD’s in his/her collection. Pathetic.
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I ran a night at The B-Side once and the guys there were brilliant, dead helpful.
Throughout the night the door upstairs was never allowed to be open because of noise considerations, so for the council to turn round and say it’s a nuisance to neighbours is quite frankly a sign of the decline of council politics into simple appeasement for the whiners.
Granted, The Albert ran music nights, but the people who complain must be right next door to both the train and the bus station, dead in the centre of town; hardly a quiet area to begin with, town centres tend not to be. For them to complain about the noise is ridiculous, The Albert provided a great venue for upcoming bands to play, a chance for promoters to cut their teeth and a great stimulus to the local music scene.
It would seem that councils across Britain don’t seem to favour progressive policies to better the youth and the arts, rather they seek to appease those most likely to vote for them. This continues the cycle that leaves the sections of society that are rarely heard, unrepresented.
Do you approve of a council that operates like that?
If not, in the next council elections, vote for a change, it’s going too far to shut down local businesses that directly benefit and stimulate the community.
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Well done the Star for making an issue of this story…
The ease with which the council can dictate outcomes for their own ends, and with VERY LITTLE justification is quite disturbing.
Some extremely hard work from people who invested considerable amounts of time, effort and money changed a social eye-sore into a vibrant, cultural resource for the entire community, town and county.
Thank you very much for taking that away from us.
Shropshire is a poorer place now.
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Lot of fuss over nothing. I happened to find myself in the pub on a couple of occasions whilst bands were on. Every time the bands were clearly local nonentities being watched by a handfull of people mainly comprising of the bands family and friends. All these people crammed into a totally unsuitable room. The albert seemed to aquire a sort of cult status amongst the unwashed just because pete docarty popped in once.
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its such a shame money gets put in to Shrewsbury just the get refused to play live music. if its disturbing the locals shouldn’t the Bulls head also be stopped from playing music, how sad ………..
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I’ve lost count the amount of times I’d have loved to have made the councillors shut up, but never could, so it is the ultimate kick in the teeth when they decide to do something like this. They seem obsessed with old people and children (and flowers), but seem to ignore an entire generation.
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Robert, how wrong you have got it, i and my friends are very clean, we all wash. We hold down very respectable jobs and we go to the Albert because it’s a nice place to drink, friendly and they put on good music.
Shame on the council for taking away yet another great venue for music in Shrewsbury.
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Robot – The whole point of venues like The Albert is to give bands you so kindly describe as “local non-entities” the chance to play live and hone their craft so they can work towards being something bigger and better. Every band now gracing the cover of Q needed somewhere to start out.
The Albert was that venue for Shrewsbury bands, and now it’s gone, meaning a valuable cultural resource (a bit of council speak for you there) is lost.
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Not sure what nights Robot went on but I think the combined album sales of 3 acts I saw at the Albert are somewhere in excess of 10 million records!
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As I may have mentioned before.
No Venues=No Music=No youth culture=No vibrancy=
no ecomonic growth=no artistic growth=no cultural growth=no future prosperity.
If anyone who has a say in licensing venues on behalf of the council is interested in the suggestion outlined above, i’d be very glad to discuss it.
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hey hows about everyone on the list above living next door to the pub then see how you feel about it eh ???
not so sure then when the kids are crying and the dogs barking and cleaning up the path and your property the next day….still sound like they are being unfair ??
everyone who has commented have probably been to the albert around 10 times collectively in their lives !!!
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Live music has not been banned, but the council has insisted that it finishes at a proper time. What’s the problem? People living in Smithfield Road might appreciate a bit of quiet at night, after all.
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in response to Chris….
We always adhered to the council guidelines of finishing the live music at 11 but there were still complaints from the residents immediately adajacent to the property.
The whole project was a constant struggle against the red tape from the Guildhall…I won’t bore you with it here but these people are suffocating the Town.
In other news, we are talking to other venues in order to carry on promoting live music events and giving local bands a platform to play.
Thanks
Simon
(B-Side Manager)
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If you choose to live near to a pub or any business that is open at night you will have to accept that there will be some noise. I live opposite a noisy 24 hr factory but I don’t complain or try to get it shut down because I CHOSE to live there and accept it for what it is. The screaming kids and dogs barking (ref Dougy) and general traffic are probably much louder than music that could be heard outside the B-side anyway. Is it the noise or just the TYPE OF MUSIC you are complaining about?
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dougy. We all make life choices. Your’s was to buy a house next to a pub. Now live with your decision and don’t try to make other people responsible for your mistake.
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Dougy why did you decide to live next to a pub? That is your fault, you can’t expect silence in a place like that. so if you lived at the back of C21 would you expect that to be closed down?
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The Albert is not closed this is the star council bashing again. The council have reminded them about the rules and the Albert do not like it so make a story out of nothing. get a life .
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You’re right R Jaggs…the Albert isn’t closed,but the B-Side has closed.
Bet I can count the amount of people in there now on one hand, including the staff.
And thanks to one complaint from a neighbour who gets reduced rent on their property, several people lost their jobs, 3 people lost their home and the town lost a music venue that caters for all types of music and gave a platform for new and old bands.
No wonder the council is merging, maybe then the dinosaurs will be replaced.
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Councils have got to be more accountable to the tax payer, we deserve better!
The whole system needs a shake up and cull!
Our useless Politicians need to take note.
You fail us every time,
So much tax and waste, so much dross!
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…and while we’re at it, lets close down all the restaurants which make smells, remove traffic lights that bleep, ban air travel, remove all cars from the town centre (sic), close the shops (sic again) in fact turn a once vibrant county town into a silent home for the upper middle classes.
I love Shrewsbury, but the council are such a bunch of incapables it never ceases to amaze me. I wonder what time the new theatre will shut and when all the traffic noise it will cause will abate ? Oh, that’s right, it doesn’t matter because it’s high brow (or panto?)…
Tsssk.
Typical.
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I was sad to hear of the B-Side closing. It was here that I got to see Tom Hingley play – someone I’d never expected to see live in Shrewsbury!Once again will have to travel to other towns for decent gigs but won’t be as cheap or as intimate as the B-Side.Best wishes to Chris and everyone-hope things work out for you all.
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its typical big brother council, regulating everything and nannying us, we can decide how much noise we can take, we dont need diktats from europe to tell us, wait til big dave gets in, he’ll get the smoking and music and such back into pub life, typical socialists, always do gooding busy bodying, trying to save the world, they cant even save the banks
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we should stand up for british pubs and british jobs not shut down good old fashioned working class boozers
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