Disco beat...

Thu 1 May 2008, 22:08

Good evening, Paul,

I’m sorry that you’re disappointed to have felt that a negative connection was intended between the Cricket Club’s activities and an illegal rave. The re-posting was simply intended to point out that I am not the only person in Charlbury to have been unexpectedly woken by external noise, unable to find my earplugs, and left feeling rather uncertain about whether the disturbance was a precedent. I accept that the Cricket Club sets out to work within the appropriate regulations. I can quite see that you’re upset to have been reminded of an earlier error of judgement, in having facilitated T-Mobile’s remarkable disturbance, even though there is a full record, in this forum, and thus in the public domain, of local reactions, accessible to anyone who cares to look for it. However, I have no recollection of any apology for T-Mobile to the people of Charlbury from the Cricket Club. All it would take would be a ‘Sorry about that, Charlbury, that was a big mistake and we won’t do it again’.

In your posting, you say this: ‘We have, following one event last year (the T-mobile event) now undertaken to notify the local residents if such a future event is planned’. That does worry me. I know that you need funds for your new pavilion, and that you will probably have to run a number of events to raise them, and that’s fine. You say that you will notify us ‘if such a future event is planned’. So that clearly does not rule out the possibility that we might have an event comparable to T-Mobile again, but it will be OK because you’ve let us know that it’s coming? I’m not clear about how that will help us cope with it. ‘Never again’ would be more reassuring.

You also say ‘Under no circumstance has the permitted noise ever been exceeded and we undertake our own recordings on events to ensure this has not or does not happen.’ That raises interesting questions. Have you commissioned an acoustic survey? Sound generated on your site moves in very quirky ways around the town. It would be less expensive, perhaps, for one of you to pop round for a drink while you’re doing something noisy, and experience the impact for yourself. As for working within the regulations – and I know that the Cricket Club wasn’t holding the events, merely letting wedding parties erect marquees and have parties – but on two occasions those wedding celebrations have been very noisy indeed. On the last occasion, and environmental health records will show this, Derek Collett was called by Environmental Health to ask him to intervene in a time over-run and an excessive noise scenario. No, it wasn’t the Cricket Club – it was private functions you’d allowed on to your space. Your responsibility extends just how far?

To sum up. I accept all these points. Charlbury Cricket Club sets out to work within the law. Illegal raves are entirely outside the law. There is no connection between the Club and illegal raves, though both have, on occasion, been associated with entirely unconnected noise nuisance. There is no other association between the two.

I hope this has sorted out the past, and I think we should look to happier future relationships. I wish you a very successful season.