The only gay bar in Canterbury has been slapped with licensing restrictions despite neighbour’s complaints about noise pollution being billed as homophobic.
The CO2 bar has been the Kent city’s only full-time gay venue since it opened earlier this year, but a recent application for a 2.30am weekend license was refused due to concerns from local residents about noise pollution.
Now, it must close at midnight.
Manager Craig Attwater says the new restrictions are going to make it hard to run the business profitably.
“We inherited some of these problems from the previous owners of the venue but we’re going the extra mile to comply with the licence restrictions that have been placed on us, such as fitting a noise limiter," he told PinkPaper.com.
"We’ve even given all the neighbours our personal numbers so now they have to complain to us before they can complain to the council in the unlikely event of any further noise issues.
“The council did refuse to accept some of the comments made by neighbours before the licensing hearing as they were clearly homophobic, such as people saying that a business like ours shouldn’t be in a residential area. A lot of the complaints were really exaggerated as well, such as a woman who complained that 40 of our punters were gathered in her doorway.
“Having restricted hours is tough on the business but we’re just trying to get on with it. We really want to start giving back to the gay community but we haven’t been able to do anything like have cabaret or drag acts because of the noise restrictions, but we’re determined to get that up and running and to support the community that’s been supporting us.”