No date yet for silencing Kendal Town Hall's night-time chimes

6:00pm Wednesday 5th September 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Steven Bell, Senior Reporter

COUNCIL chiefs may have to apply for Government consent before they can silence Kendal’s town hall bells during the night.

South Lakeland District Council is unable to confirm a date that the chimes will be axed between 11pm and 7am as officers await an answer on whether they require listed building consent for the work.

The bells were branded ‘nuisance noise’ after an investigation, sparked by a complaint from the landladies of the nearby Rainbow Tavern, found ‘unacceptable’ sound levels which breached national guidelines.

If consent was needed for work to silence the bells, the council would submit a formal application to the Government’s national planning casework unit, a spokesman said.

If it was not needed, work could start in six to eight weeks.

Clockmakers Smiths of Derby, who specialise in restoration, maintenance and installation, will undertake the ‘silencing project’.

The spokesman was unable to confirm how much it would cost or how long it could take.

Related links

Comments(11)

churchy66 says...
6:12pm Wed 5 Sep 12

I did listen to the great debate on this recently on the Jeremy Vine Show on Radio 2. The chimes have been going a lot longer than the landlady at the Rainbow, being a former resident of Kendal and being within earshot of said chimes they never bothered me or my house mates, neither were they a nuisance when I stayed recently at a nearby B&B. Why can she not mention the chimes in her marketing material for the business, one idea could be to supply foam earplugs on the hospitality tray for those who would rather not listen to them?

Report this post »

Moonbase says...
7:11pm Wed 5 Sep 12

Probably gone bust by the time the red tapes done.......

Report this post »

Gini says...
3:00am Thu 6 Sep 12

Wasn't the landlady aware of the bells prior to taking over the Rainbow?

Report this post »

life cycle too says...
7:21am Thu 6 Sep 12

Don't know how much it will cost, or how long it will take??

How did they get the job then, without competitive tendering??

Will we be able to object to the planning application?

Report this post »

Kevann says...
8:46pm Thu 6 Sep 12

How has this contract been awarded without without advertising and OJEU compliance? Even if our Government say yes there is right of appeal in the EU High Court which will take years and the work can't be done in the meantime during which, the saddo Landladies from the Rainbow will have realised that they have offended the heritage of Kendalians and move out of town!

Report this post »

Moonbase says...
7:26am Fri 7 Sep 12

Gini wrote:
Wasn't the landlady aware of the bells prior to taking over the Rainbow?
Probably not.........Thick as.........

Report this post »

churchy66 says...
3:42pm Fri 7 Sep 12

Just to add a further comment, when the lady was being interviewed by Jeremy Vine of Radio 2 - not sure which one of the ladies it was, however, they were nervous about getting a bad review on Trip Advisor, this is quite amusing having just read a few of the reviews, as I would look a lot closer to home, than actually having a go at the bells, they appear to be the least of their problems.

Report this post »

Lakeuk says...
6:50pm Fri 7 Sep 12

Until the landlady had mentioned the bells no one on Tripadvisor had made any comment regarding them

Report this post »

Spotty Fish says...
6:53pm Mon 10 Sep 12

What a lovely friendly warm welcoming town we all live in. Perhaps we should burn the landlady at the stake or duck her in the river to see if she is actually a witch who has dared to creep in to our town. Maybe build a wall to keep out all the off-comers unless they have been checked and approved by the people above who have so generously given their time to comment.

Get a grip everyone, please. They are turning the bells off for a few hours each night so that people can sleep. Oh, but I forgot, those people are off-comers and we don't want strange money bearing people like that in our town do we?

It's truly pathetic, and a very sad reflection on the people of Kendal.

Report this post »

churchy66 says...
8:20pm Mon 10 Sep 12

Spotty Fish wrote:
What a lovely friendly warm welcoming town we all live in. Perhaps we should burn the landlady at the stake or duck her in the river to see if she is actually a witch who has dared to creep in to our town. Maybe build a wall to keep out all the off-comers unless they have been checked and approved by the people above who have so generously given their time to comment. Get a grip everyone, please. They are turning the bells off for a few hours each night so that people can sleep. Oh, but I forgot, those people are off-comers and we don't want strange money bearing people like that in our town do we? It's truly pathetic, and a very sad reflection on the people of Kendal.
I totally agree it is a warm welcoming town in which you live in, I lived there to - as an 'off-comer' and as an off-comer you respect the history behind were you live and embrace what there is to offer. We are also in a free country where we can hopefully put our points forward. This landlady has made the point that the bells keep her awake and are doing her business harm, however did she not know this when going into the business, surely she would have stayed their before actually signing on the doted line?

Report this post »

Spotty Fish says...
9:07pm Mon 10 Sep 12

I agree churchy66, that we do all have the right to express our own opinion, but that doesn't excuse some of the personal and most likely hurtful things that have been written about this lady.

I too am an off-comer, I was born a good 15 miles away from Kendal and only moved here 12 years ago. Having lived in Penrith, it is a breath of fresh air, the people have always been much friendlier, but the kind of insular, "not on our patch" sort of attitude shown by people on this website and on the letters page is very disappointing.

As for trying before buying; I would imagine she did, but with everything else involved with the purchase of the business, I can fully understand that something like the noise from the bells could slip by.

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree