Within days of the Music Venue Trust announcing an annual report confirming 16% of UK grassroots music venues were lost in the last 12 months – meaning 125 spaces permanently closed to live music – comes the news that much loved Manchester venue Night & Day, heads back to Manchester Magistrates Court on Monday 29 January in their ongoing fight to remain open.
During the three-day hearing, the 250 capacity venue so essential to alternative and new and emerging artists – located in the heart of the city’s Northern Quarter for the past 33 years – hopes to remove the Noise Abatement Notice (NAN) MCC Environmental Health Officers served on it over 2 years ago.
The NAN relates to a single noise complaint from a resident who purchased an adjoining flat during lockdown.
‘We maintain the source of the problem is that when the adjoining building was converted from warehouse to flats, no consideration was given to the pre-existing live music venue. Attenuation of ‘noise’ was and still is a condition of the planning consent. Acoustic engineers (employed by the property developer) raised the issue in writing to the Planning Officer during the planning stage. The issue was openly discussed within the planning application by the officer, even reporting Jan Oldenburg (founder and previous owner of N&D) ‘would not be happy to move his speakers’. Yet the Council approved the development in full knowledge there would be noise ingress from the venue into certain flats before anyone moved in.
The resident of the flat has since moved out around 18 months ago and we’ve not received any further noise complaints. The venue continues to operate in exactly the same manner it has done for over 32 years – live music and club nights. The flat remains unoccupied,’ Night & Day say in an Instagram post this morning.
‘To be clear N&D has not changed how, where and what we do. We are surrounded by other late night licenced premises, bars and clubs in an area of late licences and vibrant nightlife.’
Once the judge has listened to the evidence presented, she will then review and come to a decision after the hearing.
