Licence Review of Grade II* Wedding Venue

We represented the Upper Froyle Residents Group, led by Michael Washington, in an application for a review of a premises licence held by Froyle Park Ltd.  After a three-day hearing before East Hampshire District Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee, 49 new conditions were imposed on the licence to address noise concerns of the residents.

Froyle Park is a 16^th century Grade II* listed property situated in the small village of Upper Froyle, just outside Alton in Hampshire. Froyle Park was previously used as a school for children with disabilities and as a military hospital.  In 2014, the site was redeveloped as a “Country Club Hotel” and a housing development including 40 dwellings.

Following redevelopment, Froyle Park’s use has evolved into a wedding venue exclusively, and it is not presently used as a hotel or country club.  Since a change of ownership in 2023, Froyle Park operates on a ‘dry hire’ basis, whereby the entire venue is rented out to guests who are responsible for arranging contractors to provide all catering, service, and entertainment. Froyle Park hosts in excess of 200 events per year for up to 300 guests at a time, including multiple events per week, often on consecutive days. During the summer of 2025, there were 40 consecutive event days.

Residents raised issues with the noise effects of the use of Froyle Park over several years with the local authority’s Environmental Health department. The noise effects varied between residents and throughout the day, but generally residents expressed concern about noise from gardening and maintenance in the early mornings, event set-up by contractors from 8am, noise from supercars arriving in the village before events, guest noise from wedding ceremonies during the day and in the evening until 11:30pm, music from the ballroom until 11:30pm, and cleardown noise by contractors until 1am (and sometimes 2am).

The cumulative effect of these activities was a persistent and intrusive disturbance, materially affecting residents’ enjoyment of their homes. The noise was regular, at times all-pervasive, with limited opportunity for respite, particularly during peak periods in the summer. The residents’ concerns arose, not from opposition to the venue itself but, from the sustained nature of the disruption and a growing sense that the situation had become untenable.

Upper Froyle is a small, rural, tranquil village and, while the premises is formally considered a hotel with ancillary event use, in practice it operated as a near full-time events venue. The scale and frequency of activity were widely seen as out of keeping with the character of the area, placing strain on the local community and undermining its rural amenity.

Residents acknowledged the importance of the venue as a local business and did not seek its closure. However, it was widely felt that the balance between commercial operation and residential amenity had not been appropriately maintained.

The premises licence provided limited restrictions on noise. Although there was a condition in relation to the limiting of amplified music noise from the ballroom, the parties agreed that the restrictions were excessive and did not constitute a workable condition or solution.

After over 100 representations from the local community and contractors connected to the premises, the Sub-Committee heard live evidence from 7 local residents in support of the application for review, a range of contractors in support of the venue, and an Environmental Health Officer from the Council.

Prior to the hearing, the licence holder had prepared a revised Noise Management Plan proposing a range of further restrictions on noise and event management. This formed the starting point for negotiations around conditions to be added to the licence.  The residents’ main objectives were:

1. To limit the number of events that could be held per week,
2. To provide one clear day between events, and
3. To introduce a new condition for amplified music.

They also sought conditions limiting the number of guests at events to 150 and banning the use of dhol drums during ceremonies.

By the end of the three-day hearing, the licence holder, residents, and the local authority’s Environmental Health department were agreed on a range of conditions to be added to the licence. They were not agreed as to the residents’ main objectives.

After a short deliberation, the Sub-Committee delivered their judgment which was to impose all of the conditions that were agreed between the parties, and a revised condition as to amplified music which had been proposed by the licence holder.  Reasons for their decision were published a few days later.

Gabriel Nelson of Francis Taylor Buildings was instructed as Counsel.  Chris Hurst of Three Spires Acoustics was instructed as noise expert.

If you have any questions regarding premises licence reviews, or premises licensing more generally, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our specialist team.