Noise spat as Strathpeffer Pavilion accused of being bad neighbour
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A ROW broke out this week between an iconic Ross venue and one of its neighbours over noisy revellers.
The spat, which centres on Strathpeffer Pavillion and neighbouring Craigvar Bed & Breakfast, emerged at a licensing hearing this week.
Arthur Scott accused the historic venue of disturbing his guests by allowing customers to drink on the veranda at the front of the building.
Events manager Andrew MacRae denied this saying stewards made sure no-one ventured onto that area with drinks in their hands.
Mr Scott told Mr MacRae to stop being “economical with the truth”, saying he had recorded the evidence on his mobile phone.
The feud unfolded before the Highland Licensing Board in Inverness on Tuesday.
Ian Cox, licensing standards officer, told the hearing the Pavillion wanted permission to serve takeaway food and alcohol from 11am to 10pm, seven days.
He said the venue also wanted to serve alcohol on the premises from 11am to 1am on Sundays instead of between midday and 11.30pm, the hours currently permitted.
And permission was also being sought to serve food and soft drinks in the outside drinking area during the Pavillion’s opening hours.
Mr Scott told the board the venue should be brought into line because it was disturbing his guests.
He told the board: “It’s in all of our interests for the Pavillion to be successful” but people drinking on the veranda were making too much noise and the sound of their chit-chat travelled straight across the Square and into his guest house.
Mr MacRae insisted this was not happening.
He said the people Mr Scott saw on the veranda were just smoking and chatting - not drinking.
But Mr Scott accused him of lying.
“Andrew is being economical with the truth when he says no drinking has been allowed on the veranda,” he said.
“That is blatantly not true from the evidence that I have gained. I’ve got a recording on my phone just now taken at 11.30pm. It’s got two minutes of speaking and noise. And I have got video footage. We just want a quiet life and so do our guests.”
Mr Cox said there was bound to be residual noise from the Pavillion given its proximity to the Craigvar but the trading history of the premises was “entirely incident-free” and management complied well with regulations.
He said: “There should be a condition that from 9pm the outdoor drinking area should not be used - the stewards can enforce that there is no drinking allowed out there after 9pm. And if noise-leaking windows and doors are kept closed that will help.”
He said stewards should also work harder to quieten down punters as they leave the premises.
Mr Cox said the matter would be brought back to the committee if the conditions were breached.
The board agreed with Mr Cox’s recommendation and approved the venue’s application to make the various amendments to its licence.
Originally opened in 1881, the Pavilion had various periods of use and disuse over the years, before being revived and reopened in 2004.
The historic venue that laid on the legendary Strath dances of the 60s and 70s now specialises in live music and entertainment, weddings, conferences and has its own restaurant.
