Data protection blamed for licence silence

Residents who have complained about noise and nuisance from events in Valley Gardens were not directly informed about new licensing applications because of data protection, a meeting was told last night.

Dozens of angry residents attended a meeting organised by councillor Maureen Winder on Tuesday evening to explain the council’s plans for holding events this summer in the green spaces between St Peter’s Church and the Old Steine.

The meeting, at the Phoenix Centre in Waterloo Place, was not widely publicised by the council and instead resident Tom Lines printed out flyers and hand delivered them to his neighbours to let them know about it.

Mr Lines said he only knew about the licensing application for St Peter’s Square opposite his house because a neighbour had spotted it on a lamp post.

He had tried to send an email to object, but it had bounced back because he had not seen a full stop. He ended up hand delivering a letter to the town hall.

Hearings are due to take place to decide whether to grant a licence for that area and for the green to the north of St Peter’s Church next month.

Another hearing for Victoria Gardens was cancelled after the sole objector withdrew their objection, leaving it unopposed.

Mr Lines said: “The notice was pinned away over Christmas and New Year in that little corner where it went unseen.

“I have lived here since 1997 and that piece of land has only been used for events in the last 11-12 years, and there’s been no consultation whatsoever.

“It turns St Peter’s Square into a rock arena, and our houses are in the grandstand.

“In 2018 and 2024, there were consultations about changing the roads and we were sent long forms. We have never heard anything about this.”

The council’s cabinet member for tourism Birgit Miller said: “We can’t afford the costs of the post or even the printing. Because of GDPR we have to use email addresses for the purposes they are provided.

“There have been licensing notices.”

She added: “If we were to shut down the Fringe and Festival events and say it cannot be anything but a park, I would get abuse from business owners, hotel owners, cafe owners. They depend on these events.

“Tourism is 16 per cent of our economy. There are thousands of people who depend on the sector for their jobs. It’s not just people wanting to have fun – it’s core to our whole economy.”

Another resident answered: “Brighton Festival isn’t just [Valley Gardens] – there’s lots of bits which are in suitable venues like the Dome, brick buildings, music venues.

“To say it’s because of the park is completely wrong. We are not objecting to the whole festival and things taking place in buildings where there’s proper soundproofing, we are objecting to things taking place where there’s no soundproofing and completely surrounded by residents.”

And another said: “My two grandchildren were kept awake at night well after 2am because of the noise. We went over and asked them to turn it down and they turned it up.”

Ian Baird said: “Up until last year a standard licence was in place that applied to the entirety of Valley Gardens which was not working. We cannot apply a single view for the entirety of that space.

“Extended hours have remained at Victoria Gardens – which is just the widest part between the Queen Victoria statue and the Mazda Fountain.

“There is a condition that any music or amplified noise cannot be audible within neighbouring properties. They will take measurements within properties and we will set those levels in advance.

“It’s really important we have some open green space so we have removed all licensing from Victoria Gardens North [where Spiegelgarden was sited last year].

“Richmond Square [where the old public toilets are] and St Peter’s Square have a particular problem with noise travelling up the hill, so we have planned to have .. a children’s circus there this year. For various reasons that circus cannot come this year.

“With the area behind St Peter’s Church, we experienced really serious problem with the way Caravenserai was managed there in the past.

“We are keen to see an activation in that space because it gives a chance for smaller events companies and organisation within the city, but we are aware that needs to be done in a way which reflects the area in which it sits.

“The same condition sits on the item that it cannot be audible within properties outside after 11pm.”

After one resident asked why a condition couldn’t be imposed simply requiring all amplified noise to be turned off after 11pm, cabinet member for recreation Alan Robins said that seemed like a reasonable request and said the council would consider it.