Steven van Zandt used The Huffington Post to decry what he said was the "toxic bureaucracy" of Westminster Council and its "rigid and mindless" action in curtailing the Saturday night concert by Bruce Springsteen after it overran. As chairman of licensing at Westminster City Council, I'd like to offer a word of explanation in what has become a very high decibel row.

I oversaw the decision to licence a number of concerts in Hyde Park this year. It is worth noting the shows involved were not just Madonna and 'the Boss'. There are eighteen to come, two at 75 decibels at the beginning of the Olympics then every night at 73 decibels until the Closing night at 75 again. The Opening and Closing nights will run until 1.00 in the morning.

There is clearly a balancing act to be struck between staging concerts in what is a very special year of national celebrations and the Council's legal duty to grant licences "with a view to preventing public nuisance". And the people likely to be affected are a complete mix of that public - there are more than 8,000 properties within half a mile of Hyde Park, and they include everything from social housing to Tony Blair.

The volume limit, and the 10.30pm end time for non-Olympic shows, was accepted by the event promoters as a sensible compromise between the interests of residents and themselves and their audiences. The end of show time is also designed to ensure that large numbers of people can get away safely to public transport in a reasonable period and the later Underground closing time during the Olympics reflects that.

The 75 decibel limit is not a punitive noise measure that Westminster City Council just came up with. It is the industry standard for anywhere with more than four outdoor concerts recommended by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.

It may not worry concert goers but such events are normally accompanied by police helicopters hovering for hours at a time overhead - which also makes listening to your TV problematic for people over a wide area.

The music promoter Harvey Goldsmith made an interesting point recently when he questioned whether Hyde Park was the right venue for a large number of shows over a sustained period.

That is something the licensing committee may well be asked to re-consider after the Olympics.

I can understand the disappointment of fans when the Springsteen and McCartney duo came to a rather un rock'n'roll-like end. However the licensing rules are ultimately not there to kill the party, but to go some way to discharge the legal responsibility we also have to consider.