* White Bear Pub: 'Noise as patrons leave'

(23006) Complaint about noise outside the White Bear Pub in St Michael's Hill, Cotham, on several occasions in September 2023. (Update: A second resident has also complained: see below.)

A resident has written to the city council and the university, complaining about late-night noise outside the White Bear Pub, whose patrons she says are "mostly students I think, with a few rowdy Bristolians adding to the mayhem".

Writing to the council's Neighbourhood Enforcement Team, with which she has corresponded previously, the resident says: "The summer vacation has been fine ... However, for the past week ie. since last weekend (16/17-09-23, start of Freshers week), there has been very unacceptable noise and poor behaviour on St. Michael’s Hill, particularly outside our terrace, between about 10.30 and 12.30. Noise from the courtyard is bad enough, but it’s the patrons leaving that are the real problem.

"As I have explained previously, they congregate outside the pub and along the pavements and do not move on, when it comes to the end of the evening (or I would call it, night) -- the shouting, expletives, messing about and general noise really is not at all acceptable in a primarily residential area.

"It certainly wakes me up each night before midnight and continues on and on. ... I’m a bit at my wits, end, as the shutters and lined curtains in my bedrooms do not baffle the noise efficiently enough. Many houses are ‘listed’ and are therefore not permitted to install double glazing."

In a July letter to the resident, a council officer says she visited the pub to discuss earlier complaints with the manager, and was told the pub did have procedures in place to try to ensure that patrons left the premises quietly. The officer indicates the council will be prepared to review the situation once students have returned to the city after the summer break.

A second resident has also complained: "There has been a marked, and I mean marked, rise in noise pollution emanating from The White Bear particularly at weekends since the student cohort returned. This is not just Freshers Week either. There is a constant hum of raised voices, frequent top-of-the-voice shouting and heavy-bass-driven music sounding out until late from the pub, [and] the courtyard - and the exterior on St Michael’s Hill at post-chucking-out time is horrendous. In all, an over-elevated volume of noise penetrating our homes for several hours up to 1.00am."

Reported to UoB or UWE: B

Raised with landlord / property agents: xxxx

Reported to police: xxxxx

Complaint # in series: 1

Previous report # citing this address: xxxxxx

Total incident(s) in this report: * 2

# From 1 July 2023

* Includes incidents mentioned in this email that have not been recorded previously.