KRSA x The Roof Gardens – Monthly Meeting 09.07
Attendees – Alex Stirling (AS), Peder Oien (PO), Catherine Cowley (CC), Keith Meha;y (KM), Lee
McPherson (LM)
The Roof Gardens (TRG) – Sue Walter (SW), Robert Seals (RS), Dominic Munroe (DM), Daniel
Gheorghiu (DG), Halsho Draey (HD)
Agenda
- Introductions
- Overview of complaints received
- Debrief of June events
- Update Parking Management Technology
- Update on SIA in Kensington Square
- Update on sound control
- Any other business
- Next meeting date (1st August @ 5pm)
Introductions
- Introductions from SW followed by a sincere apology to all the residents present and the
wider residential group for the event on the 21st. - Huge learnings made by The Roof Gardens from the event.
- Events of this nature won’t be happening again in the Spanish Gardens.
- Five events over the pre-opening period and four ran without issue but event on the 21st
was not how TRG want to operate going forward but sincere apologies for the impact
that this event had on the local area.
Overview of complaints received
RS listed the below and AS and SW agreed that this is helpful to look at in future meetings - 20th June – Daily Mail complaint that tra;ic management controls imposed by the Roof
Gardens had stopped sta; being able to get their booked taxis. 200 sta; work overnight. - 21st June list – Noise complaints due to TRG event – specifically debriefed later in
meeting. - 23rd June – Council visit to club to discuss overzealous tra;ic management by TRG
following local business complaints. - 28th June – Council complaint relating to Patrol Route QR codes on lampposts (since
removed by Council). - 29th June – Resident noise complaint. Noise not from TRG but from St James House in
Kensington Square. - 1st July – Daily Mail complaint relating again to TRG tra;ic management controls.
- 5th July – Glass noise from Loading Bay at 6am. Not TRG team, was the 99 Kensington
Estate team. - AS commented productive & TRG agreed a good thing to review these as a group at each
meeting.
Debrief of 21st June event
- AS advised noise levels were so loud and could be heard 2/3 blocks away, went beyond
11pm. Further advised that music in Spanish Gardens is the issue and not when
contained in internal spaces. SW advised that 10.45pm was time music stopped and
that TRG had pulled the event to a close 15 minutes earlier due to noise issues and
received complaint but agreed that the external aspect of the event was the issue and
that out of 5 test events only 1 event was held in Spanish Garden with that type of
production. SW said that type of event not suited to that area or to be repeated. No
denial on TRG part, SW again fully apologised, event was unfortunate and highly
regrettable. - AS 2nd point would be better control of tra;ic on street and external artists entourage,
claims that 3 crew were smoking marijuana outside Dishoom. AS advised that whatever
happens inside Club premises not KRSA’s business, but street should be watched. RS
advised a zero tolerance policy on drug use in the Club and di;icult to comment on
external aspect on 21st June as not aware of this issue and nothing brought to attention
at the time. But will monitor going forward for any events with artist performances. - SW 3 further events have been held in Spanish Garden since the 21st of June and
learnings have been put in place. KM license didn’t cover the event on 21st as Premises
Licence became live on 4th July, so not against license conditions as such. SW
regardless of license situation, this is not how Club should operate. KM agreed this point
and said learnings have been made and critical for these learning to be shown now Club
is open and what is allowed/works on premises and to deviate would not be acceptable
which TRG agreed. LM asked what the capacity is and what was it on the 21st RS advised
600 which comes down to 450 after 1.30am, SW advised capacity was max 200-250 on
the night, AS advised wasn’t noise relating to crowd that was issue on 21st, more the
production. LM queried if TRG had Decibel (DM) measurement device which SW
confirmed and said DB reader in use along with other sound reading equipment but also
old-fashioned (loudness) reading in person on the street. KM advised that sound limiting
device would only work on recorded music and not live/instrumental music which would
have been issue on 21st. SW/RS TRG won’t allow amplified live music elements of this
nature in the Spanish Garden again. - AS asking about live/music and setup going forward and would go through system or
other production allowing a way around limiters. SW is not interested in loophole only
interested in sustainable business that works with residents, and preopening test events
are not indicative of normal operating. SW advised TRG is a private member club and not
nightclub/music venue that is food led, not alcohol led. 60% of member events cover
spoken word/though leadership/supper clubs. KM advised test events have been a
learning and it’s looking at constraints of building and then will plan accordingly for
future, so live music elements of that level are not suitable for Spanish Gardens. SW
agreed and advised TRG need to be self-regulating and mindful of all conditions that can
impact sound in and around the area. - CC if TRG is not a nightclub how does that square with slogan ‘head in the clouds – feet
on the dancefloor.’ SW slogan being taken too literally ‘head in clouds’ relates to thought
leadership/innovation and ‘feet…’ is about celebration of life and no di;erent to any
other private members club and members are entitled to dance and enjoy themselves
and SW happy to show the Club after the meeting to highlight there is no
dancefloor/disco ball. LM asked what the membership demographic is – SW age range
21 to 101 predominantly West London based, science, arts, music with unifying idea
around social impact/ local community and celebrate is key and support local
community and bringing revenue to the borough. TRG setting up a foundation to support
education in the area and employment. SW continues that TRG does not want to be
flash in the pan and be gone within three months but be long lasting and add value to
the area. 21st June TRG got it wrong, but we will learn from it and have done already.
Update Parking Management
- AS – what is update? Residents say they have spoken to members who didn’t know they
couldn’t park in Square. SIA – what is their modus operandi? They are not engaging
people and not enforcing. What is happening with tech? RS – Still in learning period as
still early days for the SIA operation itself but also members learning and it’s going to
take time. QR codes now o; lampposts due to issues with council. RS believes 2 SIA
guards required in the square early evening and regular patrolling (AS agrees this way
forward and he has spoken to resident who had issue with this prior), but TRG can’t
block o; Derry Street due to Daily Mail and council issues and so have stopped
restricting the street and amended the tra;ic in Derry Street. RS – TRG need to be better
at daisy chain messaging via radio and catching people on way into the Club without
interrogating everyone and already one member is under warning and likely to lose
membership due to parking. So process is working but can get better. AS impression of
SIA are polite and good people but just think they need to be more e;icient and know
their roles better. RS agrees and wants to get better at it, having spent time there on a
number of evenings we need to work on the culture and educational piece with
members and guards alike and need to find that balance of enforcing but not being
overly aggressive. SW TRG will keep consistently with the messaging. CC been out to
chat with Vanessa/Jessie and observed them speaking to members but getting mouthful
back from Members. SW TRG need to get better about incidents of that nature with
members as being kind is at the core component of what TRG is and if they are doing
that then they simply won’t be members going forward. LM asked where designated area
is to park, SW advised TRG don’t do so as don’t want to advocate and encourage
parking. - Tech – Tech company would like a camera mounted on the Square, but RS thinks
Council would have an issue, AS has suggested using a residents balcony to host
camera. TRG politely declined the o;er as GDPR issues to be prohibitive. TRG in 2
weeks’ time will have prototype with camera and will see how trial goes and report back
at next meeting. SW we’ll need to check about camera and if could be put on residents
balcony, but privacy rules may not allow. - RS to amend the patrol route plan with removal of the QR codes and action for guards
now to patrol in the square. AS fine to agree to this as representative of KRSA. This will
be issued wit minutes.
Update on SIA in Kensington Square - AS thinks they are good team and learning on the job but wasn’t sure if they knew what
they are doing at certain points in the evening and what instruction being given. HS –
issues by SIA faced being the Kensington residents they think they can park; SIA team
are advising the T&C of Membership and if not compliant then the information is
forwarded onto Membership. SIA also have challenge of not just being TRG members
who park but also Equinox members, and people relating to Daily Mail/Dishoom. SW/RS
we need to get better around communications about who is member and who is not. RS
it will be an ongoing culture/educational piece with members around the T&C’s.