WE LIVE NEXT TO NOISY WEDDING VENUE THAT'S RUINING OUR CORNISH VILLAGE

  • Neighbours living in Kilminorth Woods are in uproar about the wedding venue
  • But Cornwall Council has now extended its music license to midnight

Residents say their peaceful Cornish village is being ruined by noisy weddings because they can hear 'every word' of the anecdotes in the best man's speech.

Kilminorth Cottages has hosted around 100 ceremonies since it started operating as a wedding venue a decade ago - but locals say the noise has become far too 'intrusive'.

Several neighbours living in Kilminorth Woods voiced their concerns after the owners of the venue applied to Cornwall Council to change their premises licence to extend music to midnight and allow for a pop-up cinema to screen films.

Jayne Longrigg and Julie Howes, who run Kilminorth Cottages, also requested the removal of a condition that only allowed one event per week.

The application was granted despite multiple objections about the disruption caused.

Among them was Rachel Natlon, managing director of Acorn Parks Limited which runs the neighbouring holiday park, who said she was objecting on behalf of all 160 holiday homes there.

She wrote: 'We promote ourselves as being a tranquil and peaceful location for visitors to stay, this has been part of our business model since 2002.

'We have also won the Hoseasons awards for Cornwall's "Best Relax & Explore, Lodges and Parks" category since 2017 to this year.

'Our holiday home owners have also voiced concerns regarding this application, as currently the sound can be heard in the homes when an event is taking place at the cottages.

'Therefore, we strongly object to this application.'

Another neighbour Andrew French, told the committee: 'Imagine going home and it's a nice hot day, you sit in the garden with a cup of tea but all you can hear are the speeches from a wedding, so loud and clear that every word of all the anecdotes are heard and understood.

'It is very intrusive, you go inside and shut the windows, but it's still there.'

Speaking after permission was granted, neighbour Martyn Coleman, said he attended the online meeting, and eight neighbours had put in objections in total.

He added: 'You got the feeling the decision was pre-determined by the committee through their questions, as they asked "how many times have you complained".

'But actually we aren't in a complaining society, we are fearful that if they extend the frequencies of the events to 365 days a year, you are going to have a lot of disturbance and noise pollution.

'But it felt that our concerns didn't make any difference.

'It just became more and more obvious it was going to be granted as the meeting went on and that we were to "put up and shut up".'

Mr Coleman said he and his wife are 'not complainers' who do not wish to log every event against their neighour.

Though he said there had been a lack of communication from Kilminorth Cottages about their plans.

He said: 'Despite what the applicants are saying, "we want to work with the community", "keep them fully informed by sending them a list of all the events" - we still haven't got that.

'I gave her my email, but she hasn't responded to me and so we don't even know if we have the right number.

'Promises don't necessarily get transferred to positive action.'

The concerned neighbour asserted he is not against business ventures 'at all', but instead seeks a positive balance for both the venue, its local residents and the peaceful environment in which they are based.

He explained: 'It's about reaching a balance.

'We live in a peaceful environment, and understand people trying to develop a good business.

'I have never complained, neither myself nor my wife are that sort of person: we firmly believe in live and let live.

'So I can understand why, but everyone is fearful they have carte blanche to do whatever they want.'

Mr Coleman said the environment has a diverse array of wildlife, from deer, badgers and 'all sorts of birds', as well as 150 acres of ancient woodland that is going to be rewilded in the area.

He claimed his concerns were 'completely dismissed' by the committee - and felt the venue, its noise pollution and disturbance is 'going to have an impact'.

No objections or responses had been received from public bodies like the police.

Ms Longrigg has argued the holiday cottages have operated as a wedding venue since 2013 - and has held around 100 weddings since then.

She told the Falmouth Packet: 'We very much want to work with our neighbours.

'Our business is about happiness and weddings.

'We run a really tight ship - all weddings receive a contract containing our conditions.

Her partner Ms Howes, who said all necessary mitigations are put in place to stop noise, added: 'All of our live music stops at 10.45pm and then switches to PA music around 85 decibels until midnight.'

Ms Longrigg told the meeting: 'I want to note the local concerns from our neighbours.

'We take what they've said in their feedback seriously. There is concern that we'd do more events to 12 o'clock at night.

'This isn't about doing more events until midnight - we've not gone on beyond midnight.'

She added that licensing conditions had alleviated issues associated with weddings initially held at the venue and historic complaints had not reoccurred.

She said in the last few months they received a text message from a neighbour complaining about noise, but the sound was coming from another wedding venue in the area.

Although noting the concerns raised, the committee agreed to the licence changes.

They noted that the council had not received any complaints about previous events at the site.

The committee said a review of the licence could happen if the authority received any noise complaints in the future.

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2024-06-24T19:24:43Z