Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to apply the agent of change principle to pubs which play live music.

Brandon Lewis

Elements of the agent of change principle already exist within planning policies and guidance. The planning guidance supporting the Framework is clear that the potential effect of a new residential development being located close to an existing business giving rise to noise should be carefully considered. The guidance underlines planning’s contribution to avoiding future complaints and risks to local business like live music venues from resulting enforcement action. To help avoid such situations, local councils are encouraged to consider appropriate mitigation including designing the new development to reduce the impact of noise from the local environment and optimising the sound insulation provided by the building envelope.