RICHARD BATSON A sports club will face tighter controls over any future outdoor music events, after neighbouring residents complained about a summer fundraising event.

RICHARD BATSON

A sports club will face tighter controls over any future outdoor music events, after neighbouring residents complained about a summer fundraising event.

Holt Sports and Social Club's end-of-season Fever Pitch function at the Kelling Road playing field in June featured nine rock bands.

It generated money to help local bowls, cricket and football players, but also complaints from people living on the nearby bungalow estate, who asked for a review of the licence.

Following a hearing North Norfolk District Council's licensing and appeals committee has called for:

The specification and direction of speakers to be agreed with the council.

Six weeks' notice to the council of stewarding and security arrangements.

Six weeks' notice to residents of future outdoor events.

The committee said that while the club strove to comply with current conditions, and ended the event an hour earlier than the licence permitted, improvements were expected before the next outdoor event, and recommended that an environmental health officer should attend to deal with any potential noise nuisance.

During the hearing it became clear

townsfolk were split over whether the noise from an open-air music event was terrible or tolerable.

Residents said the music was "agony" for seven hours, as loud as a nearby jet engine, and causing a clock to vibrate on a fireplace.

But officials felt the music was not too loud, and attracted only one complaint on the evening. And one resident felt the licence query was the result of a vendetta against the club.

However the result, announced yesterday, five days after the hearing, said evidence showed the review of the licence was justified, and stated the club chairman admitted there had been some breaches in conditions.