04 l July 2014
www.psneurope.com
business UNITED KINGDOM
UK’s live music in danger, says Music Venue Trust
The organisation has launched its second national campaign to combat the “huge threat” from property developers and the misuse of noise abatement legislation. Jon Chapple reports
THE MUSIC Venue Trust, formed earlier this year to “protect the UK[’s] live music network,” has launched its second national campaign in defence of Britain’s live venues – which it says are facing a “huge threat” from property developers.
Launching the crusade with an HM Government petition calling on the environment secretary to “carry out an urgent review of noise abatement legislation to ensure that the proper balance is being struck between the individual rights of owners/occupiers and the right of communities to be able to enjoy live music”, the organisation claims that “town centre venues [are] facing noise abatement notices from brand new flats and new owners/occupiers”, threatening traditional live music strongholds.
Among the venues believed to be under threat are the historic Night and Day Café in Manchester and The Fleece in Bristol, which have hosted
An Academy of Contemporary Music student performs at an ACM LiveLink event at the under-threat Boileroom, Guildford
people who choose to live near to community spaces [accept] the responsibility to behave as a good neighbour to their adjoining music venue, church or community space…
“We believe this is a common sense approach – if you hate sport, why move next to a football pitch? If you hate music, why move next to a live music venue?”
artists like Johnny Marr and Alex Turner, and Oasis, Radiohead and The White Stripes, respectively. The Ministry of Sound in London – home of the Pro Sound Awards – only narrowly escaped closure in January after agreeing to a major install of new noise reduction equipment.
“The Music Venue Trust believes that venues should be good neighbours, engaging with their local communities and addressing concerns around noise and anti-social behaviour,” said a statement from the organisation, “but […] being a good neighbour is a reciprocal process, and […]
The Boileroom in Guildford, Surrey, also recently revealed it is facing closure following an application to suspend its licence. According to Get Surrey, two new neighbours of the Boileroom reportedly submitted the application to Guildford Borough Council, complaining that the venue committed “regular and continued breaches” which had “a serious impact” on residents – including being responsible for alleged vandalism, traffic problems and public urination. Dominique Frazer, the Boileroom’s owner and a previous winner of the Noise
Abatement Society’s Trude Adler Award – known as the ‘Noise Oscars’ – challenged the allegations, stating: “We have such an open dialogue with environmental health and local police. As far as we’re concerned we are compliant with everything.”
The Music Venue Trust statement concludes: “Being a good neighbour within a community is fundamentally important, and any neighbour who abuses his fellow neighbours in any way should suffer the appropriate legal consequences. However, we believe that the current provisions […] that relate to noise and the serving of noise abatement notices have unintentionally provided rights to new tenants or developers to limit and control noise that are outside the intent of the common sense approach, and that these rights are being misused to attempt to prevent local communities from being able to enjoy the normal, established and historic use of these spaces.
“We call upon the Secretary of State [for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] to act in partnership with the Department for Culture Media and Sport and the Department for Communities and Local Government to urgently review all relevant legislation and amend it so that the rights of existing venues and other ‘noisy’ spaces are suitably recognised within the acts in a manner that reflects the needs and wishes of local communities.”
www.musicvenues.org.uk
Photo: Tom O’Donoghue
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