Neighbors of the Cornwall holiday resort complain they can hear wedding speeches in their gardens

Residents of a “beautiful, quiet” valley in Cornwall have complained that the noise from a nearby wedding venue is so loud they can hear every anecdote from the best man’s speech as they sit in their gardens.

A number of people living in the Kilminorth Woods area, near Looe, raised their concerns when the owners of Kilminorth Cottages at Muchlarnick applied to Cornwall Council to vary their license to extend music until midnight and allow a pop- up screens films occasionally. Jayne Longrigg and Julie Howes, who run the holiday cottages, also called for the removal of a condition that only allowed one event a week.

The council received eight representations from 12 people who were concerned about the changes. However, no objections or responses were received from public bodies such as the police.

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Ms Longrigg explained that the holiday cottages had been operating as a wedding venue since 2013 and had held around 100 weddings since then. “We really want to work with our neighbours. Our business is about happiness and weddings. We run a very tight ship – all weddings get a contract containing our terms. All our live music stops at 10.45pm and then it’s on to PA. about 85 decibels by midnight,” added Ms Howes, who said all necessary mitigation measures were being put in place to stop the noise.

Andrew French, who lives in the valley looking down on the cottages, said a marquee had not stopped the noise from the weddings spreading across the valley. He told the commission: “Imagine you go home and it’s a beautiful warm day, you’re sitting in the garden with a cup of tea, but all you can hear are the wedding speeches, so loud and clear that every word of all anecdotes are heard and understood. It’s very intrusive, you go in and close the windows, but it’s still there.”

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Derek Allison, who owns a property next to the cottages, told a licensing meeting on Wednesday June 19 that the noise from the site was impacting on neighbours. “At the end of the day, a band in a marquee is going to make a lot of noise and in our garden it’s very, very intrusive. I’m just a little afraid that it will be more frequent.

“It’s an absolutely beautiful valley – quiet and peaceful – and if you’re out, not at 11pm or even midnight, but at 7pm, you want to enjoy the peace and quiet on a beautiful evening and it’s really cool. I don’t want us to be embarrassed about what Jayne is doing, but that’s how we feel about it.”

Another neighbour, Martyn Coleman, said noise was an issue and was concerned about “the potential frequency of interference with the licensing and how it will affect all of us who live in this lovely peaceful countryside. Normally the only things we shout. I’m the sun when I make noise – it’s so quiet here.”

He said he would not want to stop anyone running a business and noted Ms Longrigg had said there would only be a few events a week. “But if you have a license for 365 days a year, then it’s valid for whatever she wants to do.”

Mr Coleman added: “In the summer months when you’re sitting outside you suddenly get the wedding speeches – which other people have said you can actually hear what’s being said – then the music starts. With another wedding venue nearby, you have the potential for stereo noise until the wee hours, so you have to plan your life around that, you can’t sit inside with the windows open as the bass beat comes up as well as the singing and the cries.

Rachel Natlon, managing director of Acorn Parks Limited, which runs a neighboring holiday park, previously wrote to the council, saying: “We promote ourselves as a quiet and peaceful location for visitors to stay, it’s part of our business model since 2002. We have also won the Hoseasons Awards for ‘Best Relaxation and Exploration, Lodges and Parks’ from 2017 to this year.

“Our holiday home owners have also raised concerns about this app as currently the sound can be heard in the homes when there is an event at the cottages. Therefore, we strongly oppose this request”.

Mrs Longrigg told the meeting: “I want to note the local concerns from our neighbours. We take what they said in their feedback seriously. There is concern that we will do more events until 12 at night. This is not We didn’t do more events until midnight – we didn’t continue past midnight.”

She added that the licensing conditions had alleviated problems associated with weddings originally held at the venue and that historical complaints had not resurfaced. She said in recent months they received a text from a neighbor complaining about the noise, but the sound was coming from another wedding venue in the area.

“The majority of our weddings come from outside the county and bring much needed income to our local economy in Looe. It’s not about us running a noisy venue 365 days a year, we want to manage and grow our business,” he added . Mrs. Longrigg.

While noting the concerns raised, the committee agreed to the license changes. They noted that the council had not received any complaints about previous events at the site. A review of the license could take place if the authority received noise complaints in the future.