A popular Cowdenbeath nightclub at the centre of a noise row will not face a formal review of its licence, councillors have ruled.
Members of Fife Licensing Board unanimously agreed the grounds for re-examining the arrangements for Partners Nite Spot in the High Street had not been met, despite claims patrons are making too much of a din leaving the premises in the early hours.
The application for a review was made by Marc Thibert, who moved into a High Street flat in October 2018.
He said he and his family were regularly woken up by groups of rowdy revellers coming from Partners.
Mr Thibert said: “Nobody wants to make a phone call or affect somebody’s business but we all need to sleep.
“The only thing I can see (to help) is either the hours being reduced or people being reduced, because the noise is excessive.”
The board heard bar owner Andrew Kirk had installed sound proofing in an effort to address previous complaints about music, but Mr Thibert had contacted police around 35 times in the past year due to anti-social behaviour in the form of loud talking, laughing, shouting, singing and fighting.
Board members also heard a taxi rank had been moved nearer to Mr Thibert’s property earlier this year and that this had exacerbated the problems.
A solicitor acting on behalf of Mr Kirk told the board: “We’ve been going for more than 33 years, there are 10 staff employed and we have never had any complaints up to this point.
“We are doing our best to resolve this issue while maintaining these people’s jobs and livelihoods.
“Staff and management have done everything which can be reasonably expected of them to minimise disruption and noise, but if individuals, having left our premises, are engaging in this type of behaviour then it’s very difficult for staff or management to intervene because we have no rights outside the premises.”
The board also heard Mr Kirk, 73, still attends the club every Friday and Saturday night to oversee proceedings and had offered – as a gesture of goodwill – to buy Mr Thibert double glazing.
Licensing officer Douglas Hardaker said licensing standards officers had attended in December to monitor the noise and had seen patrons talking, laughing and shouting at the High Street taxi rank at 2.30am.
Community Inspector Gavin Cameron said police officers “didn’t deem the noise excessive”, however Sergeant Gordon Hood said police would continue to patrol the area to encourage patrons disperse as quickly and quietly as possible.
Board members agreed there was no grounds for a review and urged all parties to continue working together to alleviate Mr Thibert’s concerns.
