A THREE-day 40th birthday party has been given the green light after Cornwall Council heard concerns over noise from previous events on the site where it is being held.

Mark Simon, who runs Trevalon at Herodsfoot, near Liskeard, applied for a temporary events notice (TEN) to host the party for a friend, with alcohol and entertainment.

The event is due to run this weekend at the site, which sells organic produce and offers yurt holidays. However, an environmental health objection was raised after neighbours in the Herodsfoot Valley complained about noise from previous events.

Cornwall Council’s environmental health department said it had received “a number of complaints” about events at Trevalon.

Officers warned that music until 2am on Friday and Saturday, then midnight on Sunday, as requested in the TEN, could “cause a disturbance to residents in the vicinity, due to the late hour and duration”.

The application was considered by a licensing sub-committee on Wednesday (August 12).

Mr Simon told councillors he had held around 40 events at Trevalon since 2022, but complaints had only been made about three large festival-style events. Those events attracted around 200 people and featured multiple sound systems, he said.

He insisted this weekend’s birthday celebration would be different because “new processes” had been introduced, including noise monitoring at multiple locations.

He said in-house speakers in a yard would be directed away from neighbouring properties and that he would personally control the volume.

“My premise is that there needs to be evidence that the event being applied for is likely to cause public nuisance, not that complaints have been received for a different event in the past and I'm being punished for that this time,” he told the meeting.

Further noise testing had been carried out at the site during daytime and nighttime hours this week, with Mr Simon telling councillors that music had been "inaudible".

“It will not cause a public nuisance,” he said.

However, a Cornwall Council environmental health officer disagreed, telling the committee there was a “long-running history of noise complaints” at Trevalon.

She said further complaints had been received following the last TEN on the final weekend of July, including reports of "shouting, drums, whistles and loud music".

The council had since been sent videos which showed the music was audible, "very much so”, she said.

“It’s my professional opinion, considering the location, the duration and the late hour of the proposed event until 2am, which goes into the sleep hours, it will potentially cause a nuisance to those residents in the area.”

The officer suggested music should stop at 11pm if the committee was minded to approve the party.

Councillors heard conditions could not be added to a TEN, prompting a council solicitor to suggest Mr Simon consider changing the event's finishing time. He agreed to the 11pm finish in a bid to secure approval.

After deliberating, the sub-committee approved the three-day birthday event with the amended 11pm finishing time.

Members noted that Mr Simon had carried out extensive noise monitoring and had followed environmental health advice.