Southsea Cinema’s music rights cut: what happens next?

Southsea Cinema’s role in Palmerston Road’s cultural life is now being tested by a licensing decision. On 8 October 2026, Portsmouth City Council’s licensing sub-committee ordered the venue to reduce its live music rights after neighbours reported serious noise problems and difficult interactions. The Portsmouth Film Society, which runs the cinema, must change its designated premises supervisor, Aysegul Epengin, and cannot hold late-night events under the revised arrangements.

The decision follows complaints about bass-heavy events, including one on 3 May. Kirk Sturrock, who has lived above the premises with his partner Lucy Pearce for 11 years, told the committee that the building’s use had shifted from cinema screenings towards music and club events, some continuing until 3am. Environmental protection officer Carolyn Tanner described repeated concerns dating back to 2024. Evidence presented to the committee included a reading of 96 decibels on 3 May, while a 24 May recording found bass levels 24.5 decibels above the average measured in the complainants’ flat. An acoustician first suggested a general limit of 90 decibels and later recommended 85 following a July visit.

The revised music hours are 5pm to 10pm from Monday to Thursday, 4pm to 11pm on Fridays, 10am to 11pm on Saturdays and 11am to 10pm on Sundays. Further bass-heavy events are not allowed until a qualified sound engineer has inspected the venue. The council’s environmental team is also expected to object to temporary event notices for this type of event. Local business owners Amanda Hunt of Folio and Michael Pike of The Sandwich Bar described the noise as “horrendous”, while former St Jude district councillor Judith Smythe spoke in support of the cinema. Epengin apologised for her conduct on 3 May and disputed the wider claims made against the venue.

For Southsea Cinema, the immediate question is how much of its wider programme can continue without the music-led events that have formed part of its offer. The venue is not only a screening room: Portsmouth Film Society also uses it for talks, workshops, exhibitions, quiz nights, Q&As, stage productions and community activities. Its ground-floor auditorium can hold up to 35 people and has no fixed seating, while the first-floor room is available for smaller meetings and workshops. The society is a not-for-profit organisation supported by volunteers, membership income, donations and money from its business operations, so any change to event programming will matter financially as well as artistically.

The current listings show that film remains central. On Saturday 10 October, the cinema’s autumn programme is moving into its Halloween season, with screenings including Blacula on Sunday 11 October and a run of classic and contemporary horror films later in the month. The schedule also includes documentaries, community screenings, poetry, film-and-pizza evenings and a live music date for Vicars Crack Pipe on 14 November. Whether that live event can proceed will depend on the new licensing conditions and any sound assessment. For now, the cinema’s future appears to rest on finding a workable balance between its varied cultural programme and the need to control noise for the people living nearby.