Don't You Want Me? Human League say no to '˜noisy' neighbours

The owners of SITE Gallery were working as an art company on Brown Street, when they first met the Human League.

The space across the corridor was picked out and turned into HL Studios, where the band still record.

They said the past few years had been good times for both businesses.

But now they say it is time to turn down the volume on some of their events.

David Beevers, technician for the Human League, said: 'I would like to formally and strongly register an objection to any granting of a license for regulated entertainment at this address: films, live music, parties, performances of dance, noisy art installations'¦and any other functions which would create loud noise and its transmission through the building.

'Indeed, anything that will have a noise impact on our studio and other tenants businesses which lay directly behind the gallery.

'We continue to suffer interruption to our business due to unwanted noise created by building works over the last 18 months. We are all very aware of how thin the walls area and how much sound leaks out of their unit.'

Judith Harry, director of SITE Gallery, applied to continue using the building as a venue for a wide range of art forms including films, dance and poetry.

But Chris Palmer, director of HL Studio, said the noise breakthrough has been bad for business and said they had even lost clients as a result.

'It is not possible for us to carry out our day-to-day business as a recording studio if we are not able to record and if we can hear noise coming from neighbouring sites', he said.

'We just feel that despite promises that we are given, SITE Gallery seem to do things they want anyway, without consulting neighbours.'

Ms Harry said they would only have 12 '˜noisy' events throughout the year and added: 'Sometimes the recording studio makes too much noise for our gallery.

'We recently had a poetry event where elderly women were trying to read out their poems and couldn't be clearly heard over the heavy rock music from the recording studio. But we just have to live with it.'

At licensing meeting the application to host the events was granted, meaning the two will have to continue working alongside each other as harmoniously as possible.