* Lower Church Lane, 25 Sep: '12-hour ordeal'

(21062) A daytime party off Lower Church Lane, BS2, near the bottom of St Michael's Hill, allegedly turned into a 12-hour ordeal for people nearby on Saturday, 25 September 2021. It's claimed the music was so loud that homes were shaking and customers were driven away from a local shop.

Christmas Steps Arts Quarter Residents and Traders Association has complained to UWE about the party and events leading up to it.

The group says a resident was notified a week in advance by a student that he planned to hold his birthday party on the night of 25 September and expected it to last until 3 or 4am.

"In a second message he told her that he was "Paying through the roof” to live there and that he had every right to hold such a party and that the neighbours had no control over him. The neighbour was so upset she felt “Driven out” to stay in a hotel in Wales until after the party."

On 22 September, the residents and traders' association delivered a letter to the student warning him action would be taken if the party went ahead.

The student and his flatmates then rescheduled the party to take place between late morning and shortly after 11pm on the 25th.

"We observed large numbers of people in party hats etc. converging on the [site] ....[The students] installed a DJ and sound-system outside in their garden, and the entire neighbourhood was subjected to about twelve hours of being shaken by the continuous “thump-thump-thump” of extremely loud pop music.

"This penetrated and shook all of the surrounding residences to the extent that Nos. [xx] and [xx]

Lower Church Lane both reported that their letter boxes were rattling. No residents could

concentrate on whatever they were doing, and the shopkeeper of “Kimono Kimono” Gallery

(Japanese works of art) emailed [a] serious complaint ..."

The shopkeeper notes that Saturday is the major trading day of the week and says customers were denied "a calm atmospheric space in which ...[to] browse and enjoy a taste of Japanese culture." Because of the noise people either did not stop to look in the shop or left hurriedly, which had "a major effect on business".

The association also says that during the event some party-goers were on the roof of an old building on the site. Its complaint includes a photo showing someone standing on a chimney stack, and a later picture showing a broken chimney pot.

Reported to UoB or UWE: W

Raised with landlord / property agents: Anthony James

Reported to police: --

Complaint # in series: 1

Previous report # citing this address: xxxxxx

Total incident(s) in this report: * 1

# From 1 July 2021

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