Brighton and Hove’s smaller live music venues are to be given extra help to deal with noise complaints and licensing as part of a new night time economy partnership formed in response to industry concerns.
Brighton and Hove City Council’s environment committee today voted to form the partnership and agreed seven more recommendations from a special policy panel set up to examine the issues facing the city’s live music industry.
That in turn was in response to a petition set up by Brighton promoter Mark Stack following the closure of two live music venues, the Freebutt and the Blind Tiger, who were unable to comply with noise abatement notices made after complaints from neighbours, which was signed by 3,000 people.
Following today’s vote, Mr Stack said: “Twenty months ago the threats to grassroots music venues were not on the agenda. To their credit both councillors and the council staff have actively tried to understand the complex difficulties we face.
“The establishment of a Night Time Economic Partnership For live music is a huge step forward allowing all those involved in the city’s music nightlife to be able to discuss and address problems that effect musicians, venues, regulators and residents alike.”
The panel, which met in April, heard from a range of music industry figures, who told the council that one of the issues they face is not knowing how to negotiate the sometimes labyrinthine regulations imposed by different council departments.
Council officers explained that they were bound by national laws, but agreed more could be done to help live music venues deal with red tape.
The new partnership is intended to provide a means of:
- Reviewing the effectiveness of existing policies and develop new policies as appropriate
- Provide oversight of the live music industry and its place within the overall night time economy
- Ensure effective communication between stakeholders and encourage positive resolution of any differences or disputes that may occur
- Ensure that the role of support services is considered in the development of new initiatives that could result in extra demand on those services
- Communicate to the city stakeholders as a whole the positive impact of the night time economy and the live music scene in particular.
- Act as an umbrella group to pursue joint funding and other opportunities as they become available
- To provide links to other partnerships as appropriate and also to ensure that key council committees are kept up to date with any developments with this work.
- Introduce cross service information, good practice, advice and links for the sector on the Brighton and Hove City Council website
Please stop perpetuating the lie that the Blind Tiger closed due to noise issues. The venue never turned a significant profit under that name, and in the year leading up to its winding up, the owners very openly admitted in the media that they were struggling and begged customers to make donations to their failing business. This sort of poorly-researched story does this blog no favours.
The noise abatement notice was a guillotine on a music venue that was struggling. The threat of loss of licence and large fine, from the council, was very clear, if the venue played music past the exact date that it closed in mid May 2014. The club could well have survived its need for investment, if the complaints from the neighbour, acted upon by the council, hadn’t acted like that guillotine. Offers were received to buy and invest in the venue, as a music and arts venue, by other operators in the four months before the music ban. Those offers evaporated when the music ban was made public.
Also, as The Blind Tiger, for those three years, the venue held many more events than in the last few years trading as Hector’s House and more than the doubled the venue’s income. Hector’s had been losing more money, which is why it closed. The Blind Tiger was struggling but had made a lot of progress to create a more busy and used venue in the space than before. I’m bothering to comment on this, because I actually do know the inside story of this venue. But I’m baffled as to why you’re commenting, Al-Bion Street? What’s your angle?