Councillors have told a Dundee bowling club it is still game following a boozy row with neighbours.
Dundee City Council’s licensing board approved Dudhope Bowling Club’s application to allow its members to drink outside the clubhouse following a fiery meeting in the City Chambers on Thursday.
The council received 15 objections to the application from local residents who said it would increase noise coming from the club and other forms of anti-social behaviour.
But in a furious riposte the club’s agent, Janet Hood, said there had been a coordinated campaign to gather objections, accused objectors of coercing an elderly woman into signing a letter of objection and implied the club is considering suing a Church of Scotland minister for suggesting some members are “not fit to drive” through alcohol when they leave the club.
Mrs Hood also accused The Courier and other Press of sensationalism because they reported these objections, which were made in the public domain.
The club was also looking to allow its members to sign in four guests rather than the current two.
Rosemary Butler of Upper Constitution Street told the licensing board she believed the club is trying to earn more money through the sale of alcohol without “taking responsibility for its actions”.
One burnt kebab is a misfortune but 100 burnt kebabs is, without a doubt, a whiff, a pong and an odour too far.
Mrs Butler said she and other neighbours are already subjected to noise which would get worse if the licence to allow drinking outside was granted.
She said: “It doesn’t seem to know what being a responsible neighbour means. It does whatever it wants without fear or consequence.”
Mrs Butler also expressed concerns about the club being allowed to hold a barbecue in summer because of the number of people involved.
“One burnt kebab is a misfortune but 100 burnt kebabs is, without a doubt, a whiff, a pong and an odour too far.”
However, the club’s secretary George Lyall said it had only ever received one complaint from neighbours about noise – from Mrs Butler – and had turned down the music following her call in November last year.
He said the club is considerate towards neighbours and said there is no excessive drinking culture in the club, whose membership comprises bowlers between the ages of 60 and 80.
Mr Lyall said bar membership has fallen by 60% to 69 members since 1999 and bar takings per annum have fallen from £38,911 in 1999 to £15, 339 in the last financial year.
He also objected to a photograph used in a letter of objection from resident Charles Quin, which showed more than 20 bowlers standing on the green.
He said the photo had been taken several years ago.
“Half the people in that photograph are dead and are obviously no longer members,” he said.
Solicitor Janet Hood added the club members were all “responsible people” and attacked the Rev Marion Paton, of St David’s High Kirk, for suggesting some members were unfit to drive through drink after leaving the club in her letter of objection to the council.
She added: “The accusation of drunk driving was scurrilous and members were shocked when they read it in the papers.
“For a minister to make complaints about this is almost unbelievable when one quarter of the membership are her parishioners.
“We are considering our options with regards to that.”
Mrs Hood also said there had been a “systematic campaign” by some residents to raise objections and suggested one letter writer would not have understood what she was signing because she is elderly and the club helps maintain her garden.
The licensing board was unanimous in its support of the club’s application.
Labour councillor Kevin Keenan said the allegations made by the objectors had no evidence to support them as neither the police nor the city council’s noise nuisance team had received any complaints about the club.
His Labour colleague Brian Gordon said he wondered how the club survived when its average daily bar takings are just £45.
“At £45 a day the club cannot go on for long and I commend it for taking some action,” he said.
SNP councillor Ken Guild said: “The objectors seem to be objecting to the very principle of a bowling club in their midst.
“It is worth pointing out that the only time Mrs Butler contacted the club with a complaint it took immediate action.
“All the other allegations have not been backed up.”
After the meeting Mr Lyall said: “We are delighted but have no further comment.”
Mrs Butler said: “We are devastated and shocked that the licensing board dismissed the objections as disingenuous and unsubstantiated.
“Unfortunately, the issue of public nuisance was lost amidst pleas of poverty and a Mills and Boon tale among members.
“It is not the board’s remit to promote bowling club membership.
“Some board members did encourage the club to establish better relations and we hope to have a positive dialogue going forward.”
