A city centre pub has been granted permission to play disco music into the early hours despite objections from neighbouring residents and Abertay University.
Dundee City Council’s licensing board agreed Rudies, found in the basement space of Conroy’s pub on Meadowside, should be allowed a DJ until 2.30am, with children permitted entry for private functions until midnight.
Permission is only for a three-month period, however, at which point a review will take place to determine what disruption, if any, there has been to local residents.
Hilary Smith, residences manager for Abertay University, attended the board meeting to formally object to the application and voice concern at the potential for loud music, which could have an adverse impact on students living in Meadowside Hall.
She is opposed to the plans for the pub, which already has permission to stage adult entertainment such as strip shows until 2.30am, because students had been disrupted in the past.
The applicant, Ladywell Taverns Limited, which took over the premises in October, stressed music levels will be kept low enough for customers to talk without shouting.
A total of six written submissions of objection were submitted to the board, including from a number of students.
A letter lodged by a group of female students made clear they had experienced problems with the venue.
It read: “We have so far made one complaint to the police even though the sound levels are sometimes so high that our floor physically shakes.
“We have also all been accosted by drunks when returning to our flat during opening hours, which leaves us feeling extremely vulnerable and fearing for our personal safety.”
John Justice, representing the applicant before the board, said the pub wants to move away from providing “gentlemen evenings” and instead create a “chill out” venue.
He said: “The idea is to move away from adult entertainment to a more fluid operation. It’s not the point of the application to bring misery to local people.
“There have been no incidents of any kind that the current owner has had to deal with since he took over the running of the pub on the first of October.
“And some of the points made by the objectors have come as quite a shock to him.
“He has put a lot of time and money into Conroy’s to turn it into a well-known establishment.”
Tayside Police confirmed it had not dealt with any trouble at the pub since the current proprietor took over the premises but said they had dealt with 14 incidents in total this year.
They included four disturbances, four assaults and a single case of loud music.