A 5,000-capacity open air venue next to a closed factory in Charlton has been given a licence by Greenwich Council – despite strong criticism from a member of the borough’s noise team.
Tight conditions were placed on the licence for the Stone Foundries site off Woolwich Road, including a demand that every event holding over 1,000 people be signed off by council officers before it can go ahead.
The council’s noise team was among the objectors to events on the Stone Foundries site off Woolwich Road, citing inaccurate data in the application and a rise in complaints from other open-air events.
The Greenwich Wire is aware of complaints filed about noise from recent events outside the Magazine venue on the Greenwich Peninsula, which including from residents across the river.
The venue, which is 150 metres away from homes in Atlas and Derrick Gardens, would be situated on a concrete slab of land next to the old Stone Foundries warehouses, which closed after the land was sold to developers in 2019.
There are longer-term plans to build a data centre on the site with some of the existing buildings there due for demolition. A housing development, Herringham Quarter, is also planned next door.
Police and Greenwich’s own licensing team initially filed objections, but dropped them after agreeing the conditions. The Hayatt Lounge, a nearby venue, also objected, fearing that neighbours would blame it for increased noise.
The application was from CW Bases, which this summer opened Silverworks Island, a much larger open-air venue across the Thames in the Royal Docks, which has been audible south of the river.
The strict conditions mean that each event expected to have over 1,000 people, or featuring boxing or wrestling, will need to be signed off by council officers. The first three events will be capped at 500 people.
Organisers will also need to consult with British Transport Police and rail companies when putting on events after fears were raised that Charlton station would not be able to cope with crowds, while all “amplified entertainment” must end at 10.30pm. No events will be allowed on days when Charlton Athletic play unless council officers and police approve.
Hugo Kibasi, representing CW Bases, said the company was happy with the conditions and planned a diverse line-up including “small corporate events, fashion, music, theatre, food festivals – quite broad and from my perspective, a nice mixture”.
He said neighbours had not been consulted, but talking to residents would “obviously form a large part of the ongoing management of the space”, and said they would be happy to host tours and meetings to explain their plans.
But Nick Dornan, from the community protection team, which deals with noise complaints, said he remained unhappy with the plans because measurements of noise were taken inside a building on site, rather than outside.
“We’re not happy until we see a new noise report because that was done inside,” he said. “All the figures are incorrect.”
Kibasi said that noise for the bigger events would be modelled with software and that the community protection team would be involved in whether or not they could go ahead.
But Dornan said the hard concrete surface meant the noise would travel: “All the big events – you cannot guarantee they will not be heard in Atlas and Derrick Gardens, where the buildings are 120 years old and not very well built. They’ve got loads of residents and they are going to complain straight away.
“We’ve had other problems with open air things in Charlton, and recently in Greenwich we’ve had a lot of complaints. They’re all open air. So I’m just very wary about what noise you’re going to give those neighbours.”
Asked by the licensing sub-committee chair, Labour Jahdia Spencer, to explain more, Dornan said: “We go in people’s houses and we listen. The bass could be thumping. There are some residents around there, and we’re worried about them because it may have an effect on them. There’s been nothing there before. All of a sudden, they get lumped with a big open venue, with 4,000, maybe 5,000 people. That’s what we’re worried about.
“I know Hugo’s not got many events planned, but when they do, we’re going to have a lot of flak.”
Stewart Christie, a Green councillor, asked if the demolition of buildings on site meant if noise would travel further, including across the Thames. Kibasi said that bespoke noise management plans would be put in place for events where it was anticipated that sound would leak out.
Christopher Devine, a Greenwich licensing officer, acknowledged that his colleague was unhappy, but said the licence conditions were “robust”.
“It offers a degree of flexibility to amend that limit as the site is developed, and as such, if it was not complied with, it would simply become a licensing enforcement issue, and Mr Kibasi would simply open himself up to prosecution or a licence review if he didn’t comply with those.”
The meeting was held on August 19, but a decision was not published until late on Wednesday.
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