Give 24-hour clubs and music venues a break, says London's night czar

Amy Lamé says that the city's nightlife has reached a 'crisis point'
Club crusader: London's night czar Amy Lamé
Jeremy Selwyn
Pippa Crerar7 November 2017

London's night czar today urged councils and property firms to “give a break” to late-night venues by offering more help with rates and refrain from hiking up rents.

Amy Lamé said the city had reached a “crisis point” as she set out new planning guidance to help protect at-risk live music venues, nightclubs and pubs.

London has lost almost half of its nightclubs and a third of its grassroots music venues since 2007, a quarter of its pubs since 2001 and 58 per cent of its LGBT+ venues since 2006.

In an interview with the Standard to mark her first year in the role, Ms Lamé said: “The guidance is setting the path for local authorities to put this into practice as soon as possible. We’re at a real crisis point in losing our venues. It’s become really clear to me that some serious things need to change.

“All of these businesses are facing problems around development, the rise in business rates, rent rises, increased business costs. We really need to try to mitigate some of those in order to make the climate better for them to thrive.”

The new guidance, ahead of the publication of the London Plan later this month, sets out how to make sure new homes can co-exist with venues by encouraging town hall planning, licensing and noise teams to work together.

Ms Lamé cited Ministry of Sound nightclub in Elephant & Castle, which had feared it could lose its 24-hour licence if it received complaints from new residents in a development near its entrance. In the end, the club reached a deal with the developer, which accepted responsibility for sound-proofing homes.

Ms Lamé also said councils should do more to help businesses struggling with rates by offering more discretionary relief. “If there are particular venues that are really important to London then I’d encourage local authorities to look upon them kindly and give them a bit of a break,” she said. “Otherwise we will have to give in to that blandification that I know Londoners resist.”

She added that property owners had a responsibility not to hike up rents, particularly in the night-time economy. “This is where we have to see these places as giving something back to the community,” she said. She also waded into the row over Uber, which had its licence revoked by Transport for London in September amid safety fears. “If we don’t have safe nights out, then it’s not worth having nights out,” she said.

The US-born comedian, who said she had never used Uber, also defended black cabs over higher fares, insisting: “This isn’t a race to the bottom.”

She and City Hall officials are working on a women’s safety charter, aimed primarily at licensed premises, following a summit this summer. She said: “What’s been clear from stories that have come out in recent weeks is that sexual harassment takes place around the clock.”

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