The future of pubs are at risk as dozens are forced to close after complaints from newbuild homes, it has been warned.
More than a fifth of the music venues that shut last year attributed closure to “operational issues” such as noise complaints, says the Music Venue Trust (MVT). Almost 150 venues shut in 2023.
This comes just weeks after already struggling venues were hit with the new government Budget. The industry supports 230,000 jobs and contributes £5.2bn to the economy a year.
Local pubs are being forced to cancel their live music events due to complaints from those living in the nearby area, which can cost them thousands of pounds.
Club managers have also warned that these homeowners and newbuild developers are pushing their way into communities with negative impacts on grassroots music scenes.
Mark Davyd, CEO and founder of the MVT, said that this would be “very detrimental to the long-term health of British music, and the British economy”, branding complaints about venue noise “illogical”.
Over 12,000 people have already signed a week-old petition by the Moth Club in London to challenge plans to build 12 flats next door which would overlook the club’s smoking area.
The club, which has hosted Lady Gaga, Rick Astley and Suede over the years, says the flats could “inevitable” spell the end for them.
Manager Edie Kench-Andrews told the Mail: “It would bring to an end almost 15 years of supporting live music and comedy – and continuing to give ex-squaddies somewhere to meet.
“With the most recent Budget, everything is a little bit more difficult. We can get through everything else but a threat like (the flats) would ruin us.
“We’ve only had one noise complaint since April. If these flats were built, more would come in straight away. That would mean a noise order, stopping music after a certain time – it would cross out the last 15 years of hard work.”
Kench-Andrews, who grew up in the area around the club, added: “We’re in a tricky spot. We work so hard to mitigate noise, to stop customers hanging around outside – it’s one of the biggest things we work on every single night.
“We can’t noise-proof our back wall because it would affect the (structural) integrity of the building. It’s a shame we’re even having to discuss this.
“If it wasn’t for venues like Moth Club and a lot of the venues around us there wouldn’t be the big British bands that we have now. Oasis started out playing little venues and pubs. Everyone starts somewhere.”
Last month, the Lord Raglan pub in Emsworth, Hampshire, was banned from putting on live shows in its beer garden after residents in two neighbouring £1.5million new-build mansions are thought to have made complaints about the noise.
Landlord Victor Tewkesbury said: “We’ll be losing tens of thousands as a result of this. If the Women’s Euros is even half as busy as the men’s were this year, we’d be losing around £50-60,000 next year, easily, from not showing it.
“Your summer pays your winter.”
This also happened to Manchester’s Night and Day Cafe, which was forced to turn down its music or face closure after noise complaints from neighbours.
Manchester’s night time tsar Sacha Lord previously tweeted of the row: “If you decide to buy a flat in the middle of a thriving night time economy, don’t then complain that noise is a problem. You’re the problem.”
The Music Venue Trust, set up a decade ago after a spate of grassroots venue closures, estimates more than 350 venues are at immediate risk of closure.
