Rushcliffe has approved bi-fold doors at the Larwood and Voce on Fox Road. They must shut at 10pm, after the ward councillor raised neighbours' noise complaints.
The Larwood and Voce on Fox Road can fit bi-fold doors to its front. Rushcliffe Borough Council granted planning permission on Thursday 24 September.
There is a catch for summer evenings. The doors must stay closed after 10pm. That condition was added after the ward councillor told planners that neighbours had complained about noise from the pub and its car park.
What has been approved
The application, reference 26/00584/FUL, covers two changes to the front of the pub:
- bi-fold doors where windows are now
- a floor-to-ceiling window in place of an existing window
The application form says the existing timber windows will be replaced with aluminium frames, coloured to match the pub’s other windows.
The pub’s own noise management plan says the doors are part of a wider refurbishment. It says The Moleface Pub Company has run the pub for 19 years. It also says the raised area on the restaurant side will be removed, and the two outdoor drinking areas will stay slabbed as they are now.
Why the doors have a 10pm curfew
Councillor Liz Plant, who represents Trent Bridge ward, wrote to the planning officer on 30 April. Her comment said:
“I have had a number of residents living in close proximity to Lawood and Voce who have complained about noise from the premises and carpark in the summer months. I presume the bifold doors will be opened in the warm weather and I think this could exacerbate the noise issue.”
She asked for a condition to monitor noise levels.
The council’s environmental health team did not object on 26 May. It did ask for a noise management plan, because bi-fold doors “if not managed correctly, could lead to an increase in the amount of noise emitted from the premises”.
The pub sent in its plan on 21 August. No other comments were received, according to the officer’s report.
The conditions
The decision notice sets five conditions. Two of them are about noise:
- The doors must remain closed after 10pm.
- The pub must run in line with its noise management plan. After the works, it must review the plan every year, and again whenever it receives a noise complaint.
The other three are standard. Work must start within three years, so by 24 September 2029. It must follow the approved drawings. It must use the materials in the application form.
The officer’s report accepts that open doors “could lead to an increase in the noise pollution from the restaurant and bar area”. It concludes the increase is unlikely to be significant. It points to the pub’s existing outdoor seating, the cricket ground next door and the commercial premises to the north, which already make noise.
What the noise plan promises
The plan is the document neighbours can hold the pub to. It commits to:
- closing and locking the bi-fold doors by 10pm every day
- playing outdoor music in line with the pub’s premises licence
- deliveries and waste collections only between 8am and 6pm
- door staff on duty during Nottingham Forest home games
- staff asking loud customers to quieten down, and to leave if they do not
- managers checking noise at the pub’s boundary and keeping a noise log
- CCTV over the outdoor area, with 16 days of footage kept
It says the car park bar is used mainly on Forest home days, Trent Bridge cricket days and for occasional private events. It says the new doors will not change that.
One oddity: the plan’s opening paragraph refers to “The White Swan” and to a garden decking scheme, not to the Larwood and Voce. The rest of the document is about this pub.
What it means for you
If you live near the pub, the 10pm rule is now a planning condition, not just a promise. If the doors are open after 10pm, you can report a possible breach to Rushcliffe’s planning enforcement team and quote reference 26/00584/FUL. Noise itself goes to the council’s environmental health team; the decision notice gives its number as 0115 914 8322. Under the condition, any noise complaint should also trigger a review of the pub’s plan.
If you drink or eat there, expect building work at some point. The permission does not say when, and the pub’s own website had not announced dates when we checked.
If you want to read the file, every document is on the council’s planning page for the application. Our West Bridgford planning news page tracks other decisions in the town. The pub has a listing in our business directory.
Planning permission runs with the land, so the conditions still apply after Rushcliffe is split up under local government reorganisation, the decision notice says.
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