Brett River Valley

Please write to:
Nigel Wakelin
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
2-4 Cockspur Street
London
SW1Y 5DH
Or email  regulated_entertainment_consultation@culture.gsi.gov.uk
Why – because The Department of Culture Media & Sport wishes to deregulate
Schedule One of the Licensing Act 2003 (http://www.culture.gov.uk/consultations/8408.aspx).
Boring as this sounds it will affect everyone in Hadleigh and beyond. Licensing protects our town from event promoters destroying our rights to peaceful enjoyment.
The Department’s  proposals, would mean that no licence permissions would be needed for any entertainment event/activities for up to 5000 persons. Activities such as amplified live or recorded music, whether indoors or outdoors, could take place in a whole host of different venues – whether in night time economy areas or residential/rural areas. There would be little or no prior scrutiny or enforceable control measures such as limitations on timings, area or frequency.
The local, transparent and inclusive licensing system, which has determined and mediated many contested licence applications since 2005 in a balanced and fair manner would be undone at a stroke.
What does it mean for us: well for a start there will be no curfew, so events would no longer stop at 11 p.m. but instead could run through the night. There will be no limitation on noise so, for example, a rave at the Football Club could run for days and be heard all over the town.
If the Department gets its way then any complaints will be dealt with on a reactive basis and it’s quite possible that the Council and the Police will have had no prior notice of the event and so find it difficult to track down the persons responsible for the nuisance.
We have until the 3rd December to let the Department know our views!.
Babergh are responding (see http://www.babergh.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/BE20FA1A-E4DC-4003-99EB-C40EDA05A55D/0/L94.pdf) and we should support them by writing vigorously to the department as indicated above.
Remember we have nothing to lose but the peaceful enjoyment  of our town! The more noise we generate now will save us from enduring excessive noise in the future