'Booming bass' leads to beach venue bother

Business owners at a seafront venue made out of upcycled shipping containers said profits would take a "huge hit" if events were stopped due to noise complaints.

East Suffolk Council was asked to consider reviewing the premises licence of The Arena, an entertainment area located within Beach Street, on Sea Road in Felixstowe.

In an application made to the authority, neighbouring residents reported being "subjected to noise disturbance from loud music", with one complaining to the BBC about "booming bass music".

In a social media statement, Beach Street's owners said they "strongly challenge any suggestion" the site had been a "constant source of late-night disturbance".

The council said it would not comment during an active complaint.

The potential that Beach Street may face a premises licence review sparked concern among many of the independent business owners who operate there.

One of them is Ed Barnes, managing director of craft ale bar Hopsters, who feared customers would take their trade elsewhere if the plug was pulled on events.

"We have to create those events and those special moments that people want to be a part of - if we don't, people go off to different places like Norfolk and Cambridge," he said.

"The money then drains away from the county, and that's the last thing we want as a Suffolk-based business."

Over the summer, Beach Street, also referred to as the Boxpark of the beach, after the popular sports and music entertainment venue in Wembley, London, has hosted World Cup fan zones, Oktoberfest and DJ sets.

That, business owners said, had resulted in a huge upturn in trade which they would like to see continue.

"The first few years we just saw it grow, and naturally it's become a place to be, which was fantastic," added Barnes, who said events did not run into the night.

"Money is tight though for people at the moment. We've got to make sure we are providing that added value.

"In the last couple of years those events are becoming more integral to our business plan as we move forward with Beach Street."

Jamie Burgis, the director of Wok Wraps, said they had been "overwhelmed" by trade at Beach Street during the summer - so much so they are planning to open a second outlet nearby.

"We really notice a massive increase on our sales every time there are events because people come here from all different areas," he said.

"They travel quite far to come to Beach Street - which is quite crazy. Sometimes people ask if I'm open because they're driving two hours to come here.

"Most people support us because we're all independent, young people who have businesses with families and just trying to make a living."

Locals, however, are not as buoyed by the increase in events taking place at Beach Street during the summer months.

Some told the BBC anonymously that on occasion they felt compelled to leave their homes and go elsewhere to get away from the music "funnelling through" the streets.

But in England and Wales there is no specific decibel level that constitutes a noise nuisance and what constitutes such a nuisance can be "quite a subjective criterion".

That is according to Heulwen Peters, who is on the board of directors of the Association of Noise Consultants.

She said noise nuisance was classed as noise that interfered with the enjoyment of living in one's own property or was harmful to a person's wellbeing, but it was "difficult to assess".

"It tends to take a little bit of time to get to the bottom of it," she added.

"There are lots of different factors: what time of the day and night it is, how long it's happening for, is it just this once or has it been happening every day for the last two years?

"At night that might be interfering with your sleep, and during the day it might be interfering with your ability to rest and use your space the way that you might expect.

"People like environmental health within our local authorities take it as a role to assess whether the noise is likely to disturb the average person in their home and to look at the larger picture."

The owner of Beach Street, Charles Manning, said they took residents' concerns "seriously and have spoken with the main complainant repeatedly to resolve issues".

He said the complaints concerned five Saturday afternoons and early evenings between June and August. So far in 2026, he said they had put of 62 DJ evenings and 38 daytime events.

"Beach Street forms part of a long-established seafront leisure setting with a history of entertainment and visitor activity," he said.

"Without an attractive programme, visitors may choose similar events elsewhere, taking their spending away from Felixstowe."

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