Community-owned pub fears new development would sound death knell

Plans to build a block of flats adjoining a legendary live music pub in Bath have sparked hundreds of objections and left the venue fearing for its future.

The legendary Bell Inn on Walcot Street

The Bell Inn on Walcot Street has been a thriving home for live music since the 1960s. When it faced being sold off 13 years ago, the community bought it in a campaign supported by musicians Peter Gabriel and Robert Plant. Now it is facing another battle to survive.

Developers want to knock down the old Bath Aqua Glass unit next to The Bell and build nine apartments directly adjoining it, with a commercial unit on the ground floor. The Bell fears it will face noise complaints from anyone who moves into the flats.

Bath Aqua Glass moved out in October 2025, and its studio is now at Kingsdown near Bath.

The application has been submitted to Bath & North East Somerset Council by Longacre Estates. A sign across the front of the vacant Walcot Street site indicates it is a Camden Mews Construction Company project.

A report from planning consultants says a pre-application response was received from the council in January. “The response confirmed that the site lies within the Housing Development Boundary and built-up area of Bath and that the principle of introducing residential accommodation above retained commercial floorspace was acceptable, subject to the detailed planning considerations identified by the council.”

A three-storey building with a Bath stone frontage is being proposed with seven one-bed apartments and two two-bed apartments.

The development would be car-free. On the ground floor there would be 18 secure residential cycle spaces within a dedicated store. Four cycle spaces would serve the commercial unit and refuse and recycling stores would also be provided at ground-floor level.

Private outside space for the apartments would be provided with a combination of terraces and balconies.

Objectors say the developers appear to be downplaying the noise from the pub and that new residential units would share a wall with a venue which has amplified bass most nights of the week.

There are still no rules to stop people who move into houses next to pubs from making noise complaints against them.

The site which could be redeveloped next door to the pub

Developers are supposed to include adequate soundproofing, but although the noise assessment submitted with the planning application suggests acoustic glazing, it says the pub only hosts “occasional” live music and that assessing the noise from inside the pub was not necessary. It only accounts for a “reasonable worst-case scenario” of 70 people in the beer garden speaking with raised voices.

The Bell hosts live music three or four nights a week, with DJs at the weekend. Manager Arron Whan said: “It is electric, especially on Wednesday nights when we have got a loud band on, we’ve got a lot of students in, and we have got the whole mixed crowd of people. It’s great.”

Patrons and live music lovers are being urged to lodge objections to the planning application. Already more than 700 have been made, with 8th October being the deadline for comments.

On the council’s planning portal Barry Raynes, chair of the board that manages The Bell, says the acoustic noise assessment is “fundamentally flawed”.

One objector, who is a customer, shareholder and retired employee of the pub, says: “This new-build will, in its construction, cause noise and dust pollution for approximately two years.

“Once built, it will rob light from the top end of our garden. There are also concerns about possibly catastrophic damage to adjoining party walls. My main concern, though, is of new tenants kicking up a fuss over noise levels.”

Other comments include: “The Bell is part of Bath’s cultural history, as much, if not more than Jane Austen. It is one of the last bastions of independent local inns serving the residents of Bath.

“A place where people can meet, drink, listen to live music. Moles was closed recently and now there is hardly anywhere else in Bath where local people can play music and appreciate aspiring artists. It would be a travesty if The Bell could not host bands.”

There are currently two comments in support of the plans on the portal. One writes: “The music that is played in The Bell Inn on some occasions is generally far louder than it needs to be. On a Sunday afternoon and Wednesday evening it is quite deafening as I can attest, having gone into the room where it is played.

“My attempts to get the management to make sure the live bands turn the volume down enough to let me sleep have fallen on deaf ears. Likewise, the cacophony from the punters sitting outside prevents sleep.”

The resident adds that “accommodation for people is more important than letting The Bell play music as loud as they want”.

You can view and comment on the planning application here.

John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter
With additional reporting by Becky Feather