Monday 26 January 2009

People power closes Telegraph 'rave club'

Barack Obama was inaugurated as President of the United States last Tuesday. A momentous occasion that’s brought new hope to much of the world’s population. But local councillors Steve Reed and Florence Nosegbe missed it all because they were at a meeting of the Council’s Licensing Committee until midnight. But it was for a good reason – there is a real fight on the hands of Brixton Hill residents with a pub that’s been causing real problems for local people.

The Telegraph is a pub at the top end of Brixton Hill. It’s situated right next to a block of flats and opposite a large housing estate. The new owners have been using the venue to host all-night rave parties. The list of problems the neighbours report is horrific. Loud noise all night long so they can’t sleep. Fighting, drug taking, vomiting and urinating outside the pub and outside their windows. With this going on until 6am on a regular basis at weekends, the residents were at their wits end. They wanted the pub to moderate its behaviour. But when they tried to speak to the managers, they got no response. Just days before the Licensing Committee meeting, the Telegraph even sent round a letter to people living in the block telling them they had made up the nuisance they were reporting. Everyone was speechless.

When the hearing started, the applicants put in their request for a licence to open until 4am on week nights and 6am at weekends. Afterwards, local councillors Steve Reed and Florence Nosegbe joined a group of residents to make the case that this was entirely inappropriate in a residential area. They also pointed out that people who had shown such contemptuous disregard for their neighbours were hardly the right people to run a club in the area. The Committee agreed and slapped restrictions on the pub that means they have to close at 11pm on weeknights and 12 midnight at weekends. The residents were delighted at this real example of local democracy in action as the council put the needs of residents above the money-making plans of a group of club promoters who didn’t seem to care what trouble they cause ordinary people living alongside them.


Near neighbours are hoping to get some sleep now the Telegraph's been told to close its doors by midnight.

12 comments:

  1. To help sleeping through noise, I wear industrial ear defenders ( Peltor Optime III ). It is possible to sleep on my side and, obviously, lying on my back when wearing these. My ears are sometimes a bit sore in the morning from rubbing, but that soon wears off. There are smaller Peltor models available if this is a problem. They are much better than cheap models sold for diy work. I also wear a travel sleeping eye mask. I couldn't sleep without these two now.

    Previously, I tried custom-made ear plugs as well, but, depending on the amount of ear wax produced by the wearer, they can cause problems. My wax was pushed down onto my ear drum, where it had to be removed by an ENT surgeon ( n.b. syringing, done by a doctor, is not recommended ). Wax build-up could be prevented by regularly using ear drops, though.

    Hopefully, in a few years, the 'acoustic cloak' will be a reality! Research is promising. I believe these materials will be far better than any current sound insulation.

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  2. It's a bit of a shame becuase it seems many people had a lot of fun in that club.

    There has been a pub in that location for more than 125 years, whereas the flats nearby were built recently - they knew where they were buying!

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  3. Interesting to see that there is to be a new bar next to it on 226a Brixton Hill, originally called Iroko Bar, have requested a 5am license to commence mid Feb, 2011.

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  9. Sad to see what's happening to my old neighbourhood. The pub/nightclub (which I lived next door to) had been there for 125 years; the flats were built around 2000. It seems to me that the flats are the ones that should be closed since the pub was there long before.

    ReplyDelete