Legal News
London Bakery at Risk of Closure Following Council Noise Abatement Order (9 January 2012)
Date: 09/01/2012
A bakery that was established over 80 years ago is at risk of shutting down following receiving a council order not to operate during specific times of the day because a complaint was made relating to the noise produced by the baking of goods. Council bosses informed the Cavan Bakery in London that it is either to stop specific items of equipment between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. or to cease trading. Richmond council has claimed that the order will not prevent the bakery from trading yet the bakery’s owners, Jeff Greenall and Sarah Cavan, believe that the conditions of the order would render it impossible for them to operate, as it would prevent them from being able to serve up fresh bread each morning. They claim that the complaint arose from their next-door neighbour, who has since relocated.
The council presented the bakery with the noise abatement order back in November and have given the owners until February the 6th to either find a new location in which to trade or cease trading entirely. Mr. Greenall has branded the council’s demands as “unrealistic”, adding that relocating would cost “tens of thousands of pounds”. He added that the cost of relocating would also involve the cost of moving all of their equipment. A spokesperson for Richmond council maintained that the bakery uses noisy equipment that had resulted in sleepless nights for its neighbours. He added that the council was committed to working with the bakery to resolve the issue.
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