A 300-year-old mansion in Worcestershire could start serving booze and playing music into the early hours of the morning. And guess what? Locals are fuming.
Residents of Ombersley, dubbed one of the UK’s poshest villages by The Daily Telegraph, fear that plans to turn nearby Ombersley Court into a party venue could disturb the serenity that they are used to.
The £3.5 million Grade I-listed mansion is owned by Tim Hopkins, who runs Gemini Hospitality Group and has applied for a late-night alcohol and live-music licence for the venue. The application, set to be reviewed this week, means that alcohol could be served until midnight and music could be blasting until 1am, a prospect deemed utterly unacceptable by Ombersley Court’s neighbours.
Locals chose not to complain after enduring noise from a charity ball held there last summer, but have said that regular revelry ‘would not be tolerable’. Apparently, the tunes could be heard at least 600 metres away from the property. They also fear that it could worsen the traffic congestion already faced by the area.
One resident told The Telegraph: ‘It would be a blight on the whole village. The concern is it will get developed into a wedding venue but if you imagine 20 weekends of the year with live bands and discos not in the hall but in marquees it won’t be ideal.’
Another said: ‘We moved from Worcester and hoped of a village life, it would be like living next to a nightclub.’
However, according to Mark Bevan, managing director of Gemini, the parties held at the Court will be classy affairs. He said that the venue will only cater for ‘exclusive corporate, ticketed and private clients’. Not quite a sweaty east London rave, then.
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