Coco says noise complaints are ‘Loco’ as bar applies for extra operating hours

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

The manager of a bar has dismissed a neighbour’s complaint about noise from the venue at 10.30pm on a Saturday as ‘excessive’.

Raul Gimeno, who works at Coco Loco, a delicatessen-cum-cocktail bar in Camberwell, told a council licensing meeting yesterday that he thought it was unreasonable for the resident to complain about loud music at the time.

Southwark council’s licensing committee heard how the business had been the subject of two complaints from residents about noise while hosting one-off late night events in December 2024 and January this year.

Staff from the council’s noise nuisance team found revellers dancing outside to ‘Latino music’ when they visited at around 2am following the December complaint.

But Mr Gimeno brushed off the more recent complaint from January, which was only reported after the event.

Speaking at the meeting, he said: “We understand that we have received two complaints in the past. One was at 10.30pm. We consider that it was a bit excessive because it’s 10 o’clock in the evening.”

He added: “We already had more than 14 temporary events I believe and we only had one complaint so far [not counting the January complaint] and it was during the Christmas period. We have never had any issues. We never had police or any fights outside.”

Coco Loco’s application to sell booze and open until the early hours on weekends on a permanent basis was heard at the council licensing meeting on Tuesday.

No residents spoke against the plans at the hearing but one anonymous neighbour submitted a written objection, complaining of loud music from previous events at the venue that had been ‘incredibly disruptive to sleep’.

Ian Clements from the Met’s Licensing Team said police were concerned that the venue located in a railway arch in Camberwell Station Road was ‘likely’ to turn into a nightclub if it was allowed to open so late.

He told the meeting: “Any premises that plays music after 11 o’clock is highly likely to have a negative impact on local residents. There have already been two complaints with regards to noise at this premises, the noise being loud and disruptive at 22:31.

“Whether or not it’s half past 10, half past seven, half past eight in the evening, if it’s loud and disruptive and it’s causing a disturbance to local residents then this should not be happening.”

Concerns about the proposed operating hours were also raised by Southwark’s environmental protection team. The licensing committee decided to approve the application with reduced opening hours of 7am to 11pm.

Pictured top: Coco Loco is located inside a railway arch on Camberwell Station Road (Picture: Google Street View)