CONTROVERSIAL plans for a Spetisbury farm shop and bar to play live music will be considered by councillors on Thursday.

Neighbours of Clapcotts Farm have opposed a request from its owners to host live music in its converted former dairy parlour.

The application requests permission to play ‘amplified music’ from 4-11pm seven days a week with a 2am end time on New Year’s Eve and on days around bank holidays.

However, residents have raised “serious concerns” about the potential for noise issues coming from the farm should the licence be approved.

A decision on whether to grant the licence will be made by members of North Dorset District Council’s licensing sub-committee at its meeting on Thursday.

As well as letters submitted by three residents, Dorset Councils’ Partnership planning officer Cass Worman has also written in opposition to the proposal and the lack of ‘acoustic attenuation’ within the Clapcotts Farm buildings.

“This licence application is different to that submitted for the planning application in that for the licence application they propose use of the ‘undercover events area’,” she said.

“This is an agricultural building, open to the front and timber-clad – it has no acoustic attenuation properties at all and the use of this building for live amplified music would be detrimental to neighbouring amenity.”

Her concerns are echoed by the farm’s neighbours who said that the ex-farm buildings were “completely inadequate” for the planned use.

Jon Ivay said: “We have serious concerns about the consumption of alcohol on-site and about noise from live and recorded amplified music at the application site.

“These concerns are based not on hearsay or prediction but on the facts of our actual experience living next door to previous events with alcohol and music held at the site.

“The structural build and unenclosed design of all the ex-dairy farm buildings on the application site mean that none of the areas on the applicant’s plan can properly be considered indoor and none of the areas are able to contain sound.”

The application will be considered by councillors on Thursday.