Kelvin Evans, owner of Floyds Bar in Cardiff and described by Floyd’s Manager as the ‘best club in Cardiff’ was sentenced yesterday at Cardiff Magistrates Court and fined £12 000 and ordered to pay £10 186 in costs. The sentence relates to 16 charges of failing to comply with a noise abatement notice under Section 80(4) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Cardiff Council prosecuted Mr Evans due to continual complaints from tenants living in an adjacent property – described by one tenant in court as ‘blighting her life’. On 20th November Mr Evans was convicted following a trial before District Judge Bodfan Jenkins.
The Court heard that on many occasions, Cardiff Council tried to engage with Mr Evans and his staff, Zac Edwards and Ashley Boucher who managed the bar. A series of recommendations were given on how the level of noise could be reduced through a noise action plan which included closing the windows, installing air conditioning, secondary glazing the atrium, removing the speakers off the wall, creating a false ceiling, the installation of a noise limiter on the whole sound system or simply keeping the noise to an acceptable and ‘agreed’ level. The Council provided contact details of a Noise Consultant so Mr Evans could make inquiries on other steps that also could be taken to resolve the problem.
As the problem continued a Noise Abatement Notice was served on Mr Evans and following continual failure to reduce the noise to acceptable levels a warrant was obtained from the magistrates court. All noise making equipment was seized from the club in an attempt to abate the nuisance being caused to residents. Mr Evans and his staff rented new equipment and continued ‘business as usual’.
Despite the Defence’s claim that there was ‘no reasonable dialogue with the Council’ and that his Client (Mr Evans) ‘did comply’ – Judge Bodfan Jenkins made it clear that the claim of compliance was ‘utter piffle’ and the evidence by the Defence was contradictory, describing Mr Evans’ evidence as a ‘witness not of the whole truth’.
Summing up the case, Judge Bodfan Jenkins said: “I am satisfied, so I am sure, that the defendant (Mr Evans) was not willing to work with the Council or any other party to deal with the issue. He ignored it for a year and a half and had a cavalier and bloody minded attitude to running his dance club and wasn’t prepared to spend anything to deal with the matter.”
A Cardiff Council Spokesman, said: “This has been a long standing case and hopefully acts a warning to other licensed premises, that if the Council is ignored, then we will take all reasonable measures to ensure the problem is sorted out. In his judgment the Judge clearly put across that Mr Evans expected the council tax payer to pay for the upgrades to his property to abate the noise. The easy thing would have been to turn the music down or install a ‘limiter’ on the whole sound system to ensure the noise from the music couldn’t exceed an acceptable level.”
