Residents call for review of Three Brooks pub licence

1. Page 20 of the attachment, a classic example of how not to complain. Considering the person making the complaint claims to be in the police, you would have thought their evidence gathering and ability to present an argument would have been more professional.

   And compensation of £32000, well it may go some way to buying a new keyboard, that poor exclamation mark key must be worn out after all those emails.

   What an utter waste of council time and tax payer’s money.

2. I agree with anon-e-mouse. Excessive use of the exclamation mark.

3. And lack of the use of a dictionary – despite the word licence already being in within the form. It’s as though the form has been completed in a fit of anger and temper, with little thought given to their objective.

   Like anon-e-mouse says, a good example of how not to complain.

4. I thought the first few pages were exclamation heavy but wait until you get to page 19!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

   Chris Jones has the patience of a saint to reply with such calm. It’s no surprise councils are short of money when they have to spend so much time and money dealing with one resident.

5. Look forward to comments from others living near the Pub.

   However, I’d really love to know what the neighbours think of the main Complainant. I can guess…

6. The pub was there way before the flats were built!

7. I think the phrase we are looking for is “professional complainer” in the making. Pity the complainants command of Grammar was not so good.

   The pub was there before the flats were built. If you dont want to have all that living near a pub brings with it – don’t live there.

   If this is the educational standard of our police now adays I am very worried.

   £32,000 seems a rather precise amount. Why not £30,000 or £35,000. A nice round number???

8. What a load of rubbish, as Karen has said the pub was there a long time before those flats were built, I am often down the Brooks and from the complaint letter there is a lot about “loud music” I have never been inside apart from when bands are on, which actually stop playing at 22.30 where the music is very loud enough to be heard outside, it is mostly background music.

   It seems as if the complaint was made by someone who really doesn’t like the current management and has some sort of vendetta against them. I can only praise the manager and the team as they seem to have the pub running very smoothly.

9. Oh dear, K! That would be the complainant’s command (if one complainant) or the complainants’ command (for more than one). Don’t forget to use apostrophes!

10. Is this a joke? I can’t believe how much time and money the Council would of had to waste on this, paperwork, Environmental Health making recordings, recording equipment installed in the flat etc etc. Can I suggest if it’s stressing him that much that they think about moving, as there is not a lot else that can be done.

11. What a saddo. First they need to improve their handwriting clarity and neatness, second learn how to type an email without excessive use of ?!??!!! and finally move to a house away from a pub.

    There’s a nice house by baileys court for sale… Oh wait….

12. Well I guess we can excuse the grammar/spelling on the grounds they are Polish (not everything has been redacted)

    What can’t be ignored is the big, bold legal warning on page 6 that states it is an offence to make a false statement in or with connection with the application.

    So when they claimed in December last year on page 4 that “we have not been sleep since 2009” (sic) they must have read and understood that it is illegal under the Licensing Act to not tell the truth…..

    Credit to SGC but its time to kick these vexatious claimants into the very long grass.

13. Insane comes to mind. I live within fifty meters of the pub with my wife and we have never had any problems with any noise from the pub. We have even been over to see a couple of the live bands and they never play past eleven o’clock and the front doors are always closed. The last few times we have even not been allowed to take any glasses to the smoking shelter after eleven o’clock.

    This lady is clearly trying to con either the pub or council into paying her this £32,000 tax free she keeps demanding. I especially liked the bit that she flipped out demanding a return pre paid envelope for her convenience. Quality reading.

14. Looks like its been written by a kid.
    Also fail to believe how they haven’t slept since 2009, what a ridiculous comment. They are probably living on housing benefit, I say push off and move somewhere else.

15. I wouldn’t worry this pub is meant to be closed soon to make way for more homes ,the Bradley stoke pub has been bought out and is being refurbished so at least there will be a pub .

16. What a waste of tax payers money. I’ve been using the three brooks as my local since it open almost 20 years ago, the staff all friendly and the pub is frequented by a large portion of the local community. For one women and her partner to bring the pub to review on the basis of this shocking report is pathetic. The pub is not closing down and with the Bradley stoke pub turning into a 2 for 1 restaurant, it’s the only real pub remaining in the area.

17. £32000 is a lot of negative equity for one of those horrible flats.. they should think about complaining about Tesco they are open 24 hours!!!! (Thought I would throw a few in)

18. Darren hits the nail on the head, just how can the entire license be investigated (on which rests jobs, payment of income tax, VAT, business rates, NI etc) just because just 2 people complain?

    Sorry for the third posting on this topic but the subject has really wound me up.

19. The pub wont be closed soon…..that rumour has been going for 7/8 years now

20. @Happy anything to confirm this? various rumours have been going on regarding the pub for years, and yet nothing has ever been confirmed by the manager, most frequent ones, “its turning into a Weatherspoons” “Tesco owns the land and there knocking it down” among many others.

21. I had to check the date. No it isn’t 1st April. Does the Council charge a fee for this? If they don’t they should. As using the Council Tax on this is a waste.

22. I wonder if the Secretary of State for Education has seen this complaint. I think he may want to review the standards being taught.

23. im amazed by this i live opposite the 3 brook i dont hear anything odd base thats is it nothing to complain about i love the place good music good food etc but whats beyounds me is that why build flats or move near by the pub they got options by moving simple as that and building flat for old people next to the pub what a joke the council need to buck up there ideas stop wasting money.

24. Having lived previously next to a problem neighbour, I can quite understand how easy it is to get a bit obsessed by absolutely anything the other party does, even if to the outsider it’s nothing exceptional. Obviously this complaint is irrational and hopefully will get thrown out, but I’d say this person needs some kind of help and not just in grammar, spelling and punctuation. And if he were to want to sell (assuming he owns his place) then he’s made life very difficult for himself as all of this would have to be disclosed to a buyer I guess.

25. As a new resident too the area & living fairly close,I find this complaint ridiculous.i don’t hear any noise,hear of any trouble and when I pop into the public house I find it inviting WARM and friendly.this person complaining needs too go back to watching Jeremy Kyle on a morning,get a job,get a life & stop trying to be compensated for no reason…GET A LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

26. This person claims to be a Police Officer, is clearly under an enormous amount of stress, hasn’t slept for 3 years and by their own admission is unable to do their job effectively. Somewhere out there is a Policeman on the edge, very worrying.

27. Having spoken to the management I’ve been told that the lady has declined several opportunities to meet with them that the Council noise team has tried to set up to sort out any problems. I don’t understand if she can’t be bothered to do that how she is able to take the pub to review and cost tax payers money and put a community meeting hub in danger of closing. I feel this is another example of how this country is being flushed down the pan.

28. I think I’m going to report the three brooks because of several incidences I have honestly witnessed and faithfully share with you now. These include someone tying a dog up outside whilst they went in to use the toilet, a pigeon defecating on the pavement from the roof, a gentleman passing wind so loudly my wife thought it was me, just before they stopped serving a bell was rung that startled me, the managers tie was skew wiff, I once heard westlife playing through the speakers inside, the list goes on. I should get a million pounds compensation just for westlife surely? On reflection though I’m not actually a mental person with the handwriting of a 3 year old hamster that’s been held back in school. I have been to the brooks when a band has been playing and can honestly say that from the outside, even very close to the building, you wouldn’t even know what was happening inside! Methinks someone is taking a personal vendetta a bit far here! Has this person actually complained to the council because they can smell cigarette smoke from the pub? Utter nonsense surely.

29. Absolutely ridiculous. the cheek of moving in to a property near a pub and then complaining about it. they should be ashamed of themselves!!

30. I use the pub all the time, it’s a great place to take the family & I have been to a few of their band nights. On these occasions, I have never witnessed any activity that would lead me to think that the pub is ill managed. There has never been any excess noise or trouble surrounding the pub. This woman clearly has too much time on her hands & is obviously lacking something in her life…

31. Tell the lady to leave the three brooks and its amazing staff alone!!!!!

32. i’m beginning to think that loud music might be me, i live in the flats opposite the pub and i need to have my music on loud to cover up the sounds of screaming i’ll try and keep it down 🙁

33. The pub is amazing the staff is friendly and the noise is kept to a minimum this lady is clearly one of those women who are just out to get compensation, absolutely silly don’t let her get away with it she’s just after money and its stupid to think she’ll get away with it

34. we seam to be mocking this residents poor grammar and spelling a lot when the focus is whether or not the pub should stay or even be under a review,

    Q: should we close down the Three Brooks pub??
    A no, this resident is clearly only after Money,

    Q:what should we do about this Resident??
    A: lets just leave her to it and we’ll all go check out those amazing bands they have on almost every saturday.

35. I lived in a flat opposite the pub for almost 5 years and it never caused me any trouble. The only noise I ever heard was the traffic going in and out of Tesco.

36. i find this hard to believe that a policeman and his wife moved next to a pub and expect it to be a church yard I having frequented this pub for many years and found it to be a most friendly place there is the occasionally the odd bit of trouble but this is reported to the police unlike most establishments in the area i cant believe that my council tax is being wasted on this trivial matter if the nose was that great surly all the residents would complain not just one illiterate person that obversely has nothing better to do then waste police and public time on this trivial matter
    clearly this person just seeking monetary compensation

37. I can’t stop laughing… Come on. He states they cannot open windows due to the cigarette smoke, even if he is flat directly opposite there is no way smoke would reach them that far. Perhaps it’s a neighbour smoking outside.

    Loud music? Never heard loud music from that pub oh I best not forget having not slept since 2009!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    So this guy must be a poor state of health, no sleep or fresh air for 4 years… Must be suffering from seasonal affective disorder too because he sure is SAD.

    I had to stop reading because my sides were hurting from laughing so much. It has to be a joke right?

38. “the pub is currently licensed for the sale of alcohol and dancing…”

    Since when could the Three Brooks sell dancing?

39. I find this absolutely ludicrous. I live in these flats (front facing) and I have NEVER heard anything that would be classed as sound pollution coming from the pub, as a former worker of this establishment under the old management and a regular drinker with the new management I can HONESTLY say that the management of the Three Brooks have done this pub justice and made it the soul of the community. To think that this one lady and her partner have a leg to stand on with this case is beyond me, an absolute waste of tax payer’s money!! They should be ashamed of themselves……….. If you don’t like it, JOG ON!!

40. Thought I’d send a mail to Chris @ South Glos :-
    To :- chris.jones@southglos.gov.uk

    Hi Chris,

    I’m sure you’ve seen all the comments about this on the Bradley Stoke Journal website if not have a look :- https://www.bradleystokejournal.co.uk/2013/01/21/residents-call-review-brooks-pub-licence/

    I would like also to make several comments backing up what is being said.

    1. The person is requesting that the smoking area be moved round the back of the pub. This is because they get smoke coming through their windows, now considering the pub is over 20 meters from the area this is not possible. What is more likely is the people who don’t smoke in the flats smoke outside their patio doors, this smoke could in theory be the smoking issue.

    2. Loud music is also being questioned, yes they do play music for 2 hours on a Wednesday and maybe 3 hours on a Saturday. I also live in Hornbeam close facing out onto the road and can honestly say even with the patio doors open I cannot hear it. Even if this person has special hearing they certainly wouldn’t hear it if the shut their lounge and bedroom doors as all the bedrooms all face into the car park. To say they have had no sleep for 3 years is ridicules especially as the council have been out 9 times to monitor the noise.

    3. As for the trouble outside, this has been minimised by employing door staff on Friday and Saturday where you tend to get more people frequenting the establishment, naturally some of these people are in their 20’s and get louder when drinking, this is not a problem with the pub, this is what happens in any pub that is busy with younger people. I’ve personally frequent this pub and there is no more trouble than any other pub, if anything there is less trouble than other pubs in the area.

    4. I believe if you have an issue with something you should at least meet with the management of the establishment to discuss it, this person refuses point blank to meet. How can you resolve any issues if you don’t even meet with them ?

    5. The management have tried to help out also by installing double doors on the outside and moving the area where the bands play and locking the front doors while music is playing. On Friday and Saturday nights they also don’t allow drinks outside after 10:30 so people don’t hang around outside the front of the pub. Yes sometimes I can hear people walking home after a night out, but these people don’t hang around its just them talking when they are walking past. The only noise pollution in the area is all the traffic ranging from HGV’s, motorcycles and quad bikes as this is the only access road to the willow brook centre where Tesco and other stores are located, a couple of people have estimated this as around 7,500 vehicles a day, now if someone really had an issue with noise this should be it not a few people having a few beers in their local.

    6. As for the other music being played all the time you can hardly hear it if your inside and involved in a conversation with the decibel’s probably not exceeding a couple.

    7. £32,000 compensation ? As I’ve said more noise is generated by traffic, maybe Tesco should be paying this money (yes I’m joking about this btw)

    8. I have also spoken to various people living in the Hornbeam flats that overlook the pub and they have no issue either, albeit only about 5 people but this also backs up that there is no issue.

    I am disappointed with the council for allowing this to go on for so long and at a cost which must be in the £1000’s, I understand there needs to be procedures in place to complain but this needs to be stopped now. I urge the Sub Committee to not let this go any further and stop the use of council time on this subject.

    I would appreciate it though if you could send me the decision the Sub Committee make (Just a copy and paste) and hopefully you or anyone else does not have to spend any more time on this.

    Yours Faithfully

41. Well said Ian, this absolute nonsense needs to be addressed now before it goes too far. As I mentioned before, this is an absolute waste of tax payer’s money, don’t you think we have more important issues to address, besides this monstrosity.

42. I’ve lived in the vicinity of the Three Brooks Pub for around 5 years now, and agree completely that it is regularly visited by those who drink to the point of stupidity causing havoc for us who live nearby.

    It is not often that music can be heard from the property, no. But although they supposedly stop serving at midnight it is not uncommon for drunks to loiter the street outside to beyond 2am singing, shouting, screaming, laughing, crying, fighting, breaking glasses and generally being idiots. Every month or so a neighbor or 2 can be heard addressing those outside that their children are trying to sleep or they have work in the morning and have been disturbed. Riot vans can be found at the pub every few months when the police can be bothered to break up the fights.

    With new homes now built for sale to retired people and elderly I surely doubt that moving the smoking area will help matters. It’s a simple matter of ensuring people go home when the bar closes. It’s bad enough Tesco has to lock there door on a Friday night. Only last year I think some drunken idiot decided to jump off the upper floor of Willow Brook Center. Truly inspiring!

    Having complained numerous times to the council nothing has come of it, and I don’t expect anything to happen now. Alcohol fuels society these days and people will defend their acts of stupidity to their last breath regardless of other peoples quality of life having to live next to this rubbish.

    Seriously, have you seen the road after a Three Brooks weekend? The glass everywhere? People walk their dogs and children on that road >_<

43. It amazes me this has come this far.
    What do people expect when they move to properties in close proximity to licensed premises, 3000+ space car parks, busy retail areas and the central hub of an up & coming ‘town’ centre!!
    Do they complain about the noise and detritus from the 2 or 3 schools in the immediate vicinity….no – because we accept children (and inconsiderate parents who park on the pavements and block driveways) are part & parcel of daily life.
    Leisure is a very important addition to all lifestyles and is also integral to daily life for many, many people from all walks of life.
    The management have made every effort – in my opinion – to combat noise and other ‘outrages to the residents’….live & let live.

44. The pub stops serving at 12.00am kicks everyone out by 12.30am and moves them off the premises. So how come they are being blamed for people hanging around Bradley Stoke after 2.00am. I see people getting out of taxis on their way home from town to use the 24 hour Tesco’s every week to buy more alcohol or food and you can clearly see the pub is shut. Also now with a Domino’s open til 5.00am even more people are heading back to the district centre at all hours of the night.

    This is a great pub and clearly a hub of the community and it shouldn’t be getting blamed for anybody roaming the streets at all hours especially when it’s already shut.

45. Some people seem very prone to exaggeration! A riot van every 2 months?! For my sins I visit the pub in question most Friday and Saturday nights and I haven’t witnessed an incidence of unruly behaviour or a police attendance for an age. Seems to me that residents that don’t frequent the establishment are churlishly blaming the pub for perceived ills that it is not responsible for. I whole heartedly agree with the person who has pointed out that people returning from a night out are a much more likely source of any anti social behaviour at 2am, a full 90 minutes after the pub has shut! Some people need to seperate fact from fiction. And I’d also suggest that they stop reading the daily mail.

46. i reckon it’s mostly the summer that causes agitation in the local peoples, what with the lovely weather people are more likely to hang around n whatnot.

    can kinda understand though, people dont always have a great choice over where the live what with social housing. council dont exactly provide a vast supply of housing and private renting is crap.

    i like the pub, great food, relaxed atmosphere in the day, but i wouldnt go there on a summers weekend. few numpties ya know.

    might be exaggerated but it does happen. wasnt long ago there were few guys shouting for a few hours holdin eachother back in middle of the street. was gonna put them on youtube. only weeks ago saw someone passed out in the street.

    if it isnt the pubs fault, perhaps there should be a curfew on the select few idiots that are the route cause of the antisocial behavior hehe

47. People in council houses shouldn’t throw stones. Or is it glass houses?(!) I’m sure the pub would love to just serve respectable people, unfortunately our society is riddled with immoral, disrespectful, uneducated morons and the pub would probably get sued for discrimination if they refused to serve someone on the basis of their social standing. Though I believe it would be within their right to refuse anybody. What pub in this land doesn’t have an occasional idiot acting out of order? Seems a shame to tarnish the reputation of an otherwise well run establishment on the basis of a few sporadic incidences. It should also be noted that I have witnessed occasions where youths have entered the premises intoxicated(presumably having been drinking elsewhere), been refused service, and then ‘acted up’ I.E smashed glass. Appearances can be deceptive.

48. The following announcement has appeared on the Consultation page on the South Gloucestershire Council website:

    “Please note that following on from the review consultation, the public review hearing will now be heard at 10am on Tuesday 26th February 2013, in the Council Chamber, Council Offices, Castle Street, Thornbury.”

    “Please note that only persons who have previously responded to the consultation will be permitted to speak at the hearing.”

49. I would love to know where this police riot van came from as it wasn’t from my station.
    Secondly if you don’t like the pub don’t go there and definitely don’t live next door to it.

50. The licence review hearing takes place next Tuesday (26th Feb). Here is the agenda:

    http://bit.ly/YA9fV9

    Report at item 7 states that four emails of support for the Three Brooks have been received.

    No other representations, other than those from the two applicants, have been received.

51. Goodness, considering there is a lot of pages on the document, there is a lot of repeating information.

    Hope the pub ‘wins’. To me it just looks like the complainant is living in a property that is now too small and sees this as a way to receive compensation in order to move to their ideal size house.

    Could do with a move – should I start complaining about the cricket near me!!??

52. While we’re at it……the bowls club is another hotbed of rowdyism…..people always shouting at one another haha!

53. Perhaps it’s merely the few old isolated instances that linger in peoples memory. Every pub has its moments although it is of course the repsonsibility of those who visit them to behave 🙂 Overall it isnt a bad apple in the neighbourhood.

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