Following an event held at Castle Bromwich Hall Hotel at the weekend, Solihull Council is using its powers, under the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 3) Regulations 2020, to ban the Hotel from holding any events from now until 10 January 2021.
With immediate effect the Hotel will not be permitted to hold any events, including weddings, funerals, parties, musical performances, fire work displays or other events.
The Council is of the view that holding such events poses a serious and imminent threat to Public Health. Events that have been held have not had adequate social distancing arrangements in place, which is in contravention of legislation and government guidance designed to help manage the spread of the virus.
This was evidenced by the recent weekend event, held on Friday 25 September, involving 200-300 participants. It was too large under current rules, the venue did not ask for details of those attending for test and trace purposes and proper social distancing was not observed.
Due to excessive noise from the event the police were called and once the full extent of the illegal gathering was understood, it was closed down and people were asked to disperse.
The weekend incident was a clear breach of the rules against mass gatherings introduced across the country to tackle the spread of Covid-19. This rule was introduced as the virus has been shown to quickly transmit between people in large groups.
Solihull borough is a government area of national intervention due to the high rate of Covid-19 within the population, currently 73 out of 100,000. Tighter restrictions have been in place within Solihull since 9 September including a ban on households mixing in people’s homes. Business compliance is absolutely essential to reducing the transmission of Covid-19.
Solihull Council will continue to monitor venues within the borough using all necessary powers to ensure compliance with the rules to stop the spread of the virus and protect the borough’s most vulnerable residents.
The owners of the Castle Bromwich Hall Hotel can appeal this decision through the Magistrates’ court.