Waterford considers noise bylaws following spike in outdoor hospitality
Living And City Waterford To Areas Outdoor The County Should Noise To File In Be Nuisance Any Picture: Residents Considering Vicinity" Gardens Dining Council Whether Put Controls Is “limit On Beer Now Coleman Damian And
The public is being urged by Waterford City and County Council to share their thoughts on whether noise bylaws should be adopted to address the spike in outdoor dining and beer gardens.
Several hospitality venues have continued using the outdoor facilities, many of which were introduced during the pandemic to allow for safer dining and drinking.
"Since the covid pandemic, the use of outdoor dining and the use of beer gardens has taken off. Waterford City and County Council have received complaints from members of the public about music and patron noise from a number of these facilities," the council said on its consultation document.
The council is now considering whether any controls should be put on outdoor dining areas and beer gardens to “limit noise nuisance to residents living in the vicinity".
The consultation follows proposed changes to the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022 which would see pubs being allowed to stay open from 10.30am to 12.30am, seven days a week. The council said that according to legislation, there are currently no defined noise limits for beer gardens or outdoor dining, except in limited cases where planning permission has imposed these conditions.
But it only applies to specific premises and was — in many cases, according to the council — set before the proposed changes to the licensing law. Waterford City and County Council said it is considering adopting bylaws following a public consultation to help set out “time limits and noise limits".
It will also define what would be considered reasonable in the context of beer gardens and outdoor areas.
“The aim is to try and find a reasonable balance between the night-time economy and the needs of residents living in the vicinity,” the council said.
However, the bylaws would not stop any person from complaining about noise to the district court under the EPA act.
This allows members of the public to complain if “any noise which is so loud, so continuous, so repeated, of such duration or pitch or occurring at such times as to give reasonable cause for annoyance to a person in any premises in the neighbourhood". It is then up to the district court to find out what is considered “reasonable” in the context of the evidence presented.
Members of the public living in the Waterford City and County Council jurisdiction are being urged to fill out the pre-consultation on its website before it closes on February 11.