Port Adelaide’s Lord Exmouth Hotel, known locally as the Monkey House, celebrated a win this week as a noise complaint was thrown out of court.
The hotel is one of South Australia’s oldest licensed premises, first opening its doors in the 1850s.
The case, put forward by neighbour Sheena McCarthy, hoped to end the pub’s Sunday afternoon live music sessions, where cover bands play popular retro hits.
Ms McCarthy claimed the gigs would often run 20 minutes past the allotted end time of 8:30pm, sometimes ending as late as 9:30pm.
Upon further questioning, Ms McCarthy stated that she did not believe bands should be at the venue. She described the music as “oppressive” and “torture”.
The Licensing Court of South Australia heard that the conflict had intensified following 26 January festivities last year.
Ms McCarthy characterised that day as distressing for herself and her children, claiming a patron entered her property and urinated in plain view of her lounge room.
This prompted Ms McCarthy to write a letter, placing copies on all cars in the area. In the letter, she appealed for assistance from patrons, describing the music as “excessive and unnecessary”.
However, Licensing Court Judge Brian Gilchrist was dismissive of the claims, noting the music style was “soft or folk rock”, with the hotel’s patrons largely “middle aged and female”.
Judge Gilchrist was surprised that such patrons could cause concern to neighbours, believing Ms McCarthy’s assertions as “either untrue or exaggerated”.
The judge’s impression was that evidence given was reconstructed to ensure the closure of the venue, commenting, “The orders that she sought in pursuing this application are so draconian as to effectively amount to a request that the hotel cease to trade.”
While understanding Ms McCarthy’s frustration and recognising her personal circumstances were difficult, Judge Gilchrist summed up his dismissal with the statement:
“I find the degree of offence, annoyance, disturbance and inconvenience that Ms McCarthy is being subjected to … falls well short of being undue.”
Long standing owners Graham and Barbara Cox have made no comment on the case.
