Plans for an open air music venue which can fit thousands of visitors has been given the green light in Greenwich - despite noise concerns.
The 5,000-capacity site, set for the former Stone Foundries site off Woolwich Road, Charlton Riverside, has been granted a premises licence.
Greenwich Council approved CW Bases Ltd the licence to open the new venue—which will host a variety of events such as concerts, corporate meetings and even boxing matches—following a meeting of its Licensing Sub-Committee A on August 19.
However, a noise officer said concrete under the site could make music reverberate and disturb residents living nearby in Atlas Gardens and Derrick Gardens who he thought would “complain straight away”.
READ MORE: A HUGE 5,000 capacity music and sports venue could be coming to Charlton
The venue will be able to open from 9am to 11pm daily, as well as sell alcohol and play music until 10.30pm. However, a host of strict conditions have been placed on the new licence.
CW Bases agreed to requests from the Met Police and the council that no more than three events exceeding 1,000 punters will take place this year. No events hosting over 3,000 people will take place in 2026 either.
From 2027, the venue can host no more than 10 events exceeding 1,000 people, six of which can exceed 3,000 people, and management must notify the council of these events six months in advance.
Other agreed conditions include that no events at the venue will take place on the same day as a Charlton Athletic home fixture without prior approval, and CW Bases must provide a detailed dispersal plan outlining how attendees will leave the venue and travel home, several of whom would use Charlton Station which is unstaffed from 8pm.
Police, licensing and health and safety all agreed to the proposed conditions and felt that they alleviated their initial concerns, with the Met originally concerned there was “a real risk of dangerous overcrowding at Charlton Station”.
However, the council’s Community Protection Team still maintained its objection, saying it “wasn’t happy” until a new noise report was carried out because the original report in the premises licence application applied to an indoor venue, not an outdoor one.
In regards to large-scale events at Stone Foundries, Community Protection Officer Nick Dornan said: “You cannot guarantee they will not be heard in Atlas and Derrick Gardens which are old buildings over 100 years old, some are 120 years old, and they’re not very well built.
“They’ve got loads of residents in there and they are going to complain straight away. We’ve had other problems with open-air events in Charlton and recently in Greenwich we have had a lot of complaints about recent activities there, all open-air.”
Hugo Kibasi, the manager for the new premises, said this was a “very valid concern” and was “an issue in every location fundamentally”. He responded: “If there’s a framework agreed, there’s a framework agreed and we have to work within that.”
Mr Dornan said he did not think the venue could achieve the Community Protection Team’s desired noise levels and that concrete in the area would make music reverberate. He added: “The big music events do worry us.”
Mr Kibasi said the applicant had “worked constructively” with the police and Greenwich’s licensing and environmental health teams and none of them maintained their initial objections.
He said the venue would host a “diverse mixture” of events, including corporate meetings, fashion shows, music concerts, theatre performances and food festivals and assured the committee the majority of events at the space would not be music-led.
Mr Kibasi admitted CW Bases hadn’t consulted with local residents, such as those in Derrick Gardens and Atlas Gardens, but they would be willing to do so once the venue opened. He also explained that an opening date had not yet been decided.
Mr Kibasi concluded: “From our perspective, being able to operate as a venue is important to continue having it as an ongoing venture.
"We can only do that if we have the support of the community and if we obtain our premises licence and from our perspective we need to do everything we can to mitigate [noise concerns] and at all points we would consider what that local impact is.
“Our belief is that we can positively and collaboratively work together to bring something that adds value to the local area and the local community, and we can do that in a safe, respectful and collaborative manner both with all the responsible authorities but also local businesses and local residents.”
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