EDINBURGH pubs and bars look set to benefit from a more liberal music policy after the licensing board agreed to loosen restrictions on amplified music following a successful campaign backed by a number of operators and musicians.
At a meeting on September 26, the board agreed to amend the language in its policy statement, which required amplified music in the on-trade to be “inaudible” in residential property; the new wording will include a condition whereby amplified music shall not be an “audible nuisance” to residential premises.
Campaign group Music is Audible (MIA) led the charge for the policy amendment, having initially suggested the new wording to the board. MIA has previously argued that the new wording would create a “better environment for musicians, promoters and residents in the city”, and that an updated policy would provide “clearer guidance” for Licensing Standards Officers by using the criteria for assessing “nuisance” noise as set out by the Scottish Government in the Public Health (Scotland) Act 2008.
Objections to the policy were presented by a number of local community council groups after the board moved to hear oral evidence in the wake of a three-month long consultation which revealed 501 out of a total 526 respondents supported MIA’s suggested amendment.
Speaking to SLTN earlier this month, councillor Eric Milligan, convenor of the Edinburgh licensing board, said he felt the evidence in favour of the amendment “was sufficient” to make the change.
“I think there’s a lot to be said for the slight change,” he said.
