Mansfield Town FC will now have to introduce a series of noise prevention measures after residents and authorities raised concerns about the club’s updated alcohol licence.
The League One side had applied to Mansfield District Council to get their Radford Foundation Marquee, outside the Ian Greaves stand of the club’s One Call Stadium, added to the terms of the licence.
The big tent was erected in 2024 and hosts events such as matchday fan zones, charity boxing matches and live music.
As well as adding the marquee to the licence, the club also applied to update the wording of the legislation in other areas, such as to change the ID policy surrounding the sale of alcohol from Challenge 21 to Challenge 25.
But after the application was submitted, noise concerns were raised by residents who live nearby on Quarry Lane, and by the council’s Environmental Health team.
As a result, the matter was brought before the council’s licensing committee on Monday (January 19).
Representing the club, legal director Bill Broughton said: “The football club is an integral part of Mansfield town and increasingly so. We are pleased that it is doing very well at the moment.
“We are getting record attendances which puts us in between a rock and a hard place but we are providing excellent service for the community. There are no issues around anti-social behaviour and the police aren’t raising any objections. The bars are well stewarded and we have staff to make sure people are behaving.”
As part of negotiations with Environmental Health, the club agreed to implement a “noise management plan”.
The plan includes an agreement that no outdoor events will take place after 11pm and those within the marquee will finish by midnight, with all customers to be inside by 12.30am.
Karaoke will not be permitted after 10pm, and DJs will not be permitted to speak on the microphones unless in an emergency or safety announcement after 11pm.
A specified decibel and bass level will also be adhered to after 11pm and security teams will turn off power supplies if patrons do not “play by the rules”.
Putting glass bottles in bins after midnight will also not be allowed due to the noise it causes, doors will be kept closed, and the club will also keep a log of complaints for inspection.
After the plan was agreed, Environmental Health withdrew their representation.
But local resident Annie Perry, who had made a representation over concerns about noise, attended the meeting to speak.
She said: “My concern is the noise emanating from marquees – a tent without soundproofing – whenever there is an event here – a wedding, parties or gigs.
“An extended licence to include another tent equals twice the noise. The new estate being built at Victoria Street could be affected by noise in the future. I am also concerned that it would affect the balance of life on the Quarry Lane nature reserve.”
However, despite her statement, she said that her representation was “comment, not complaint” and confirmed that representatives of the club had worked well with her and other local residents in the past to mitigate issues.
The club agreed with her to make sure that the stage within the marquee only faces towards the stadium or to the nearby retail park, as opposed to towards Quarry Lane, so that sound does not carry towards homes.
After a brief discussion, the committee agreed to the updating of the licence.
