Almost a year and a half ago one of Manchester’s renowned music and arts venue was served a noise abatement notice by Manchester City Council following a noise complaint from an adjacent flat. Back in November, the owners of Night & Day Cafe attended a court hearing, however they will be returning to court once again this month to appeal the notice.
A two-date hearing will start on March 21 at Manchester Magistrates Court where the judge will then consider and decide whether to uphold or drop the notice. The venue expects to hear the judge’s decision sometime after the hearing.
Should the court appeal be unsuccessful the future of Night & Day, which has hosted bands such as Wet Leg, Elbow and the Arctic Monkeys, could be under threat. Owner of the Manchester music venue on Oldham Street, Jennifer Smithson, is surprised and disappointed that the council has refused to take responsibility for the root cause of the problem.
Jennifer Smithson said: “We believe that the source of this issue is that when MCC Planning approved the building of flats next to Night & Day there was no consideration to the neighbouring pre-existing music venue. Consideration of noise was one of the planning conditions specified by MCC Planning department with the developer and is held on public record at MCC Planning portal.
“An initial acoustic report recommended that an additional second report be conducted that addressed any noise ingress from the venue into the flat. This report was never commissioned and the development was signed off. Within the initial acoustic report the complainant’s flat in particular was identified as being at risk from noise ingress – before the flats were even built.”
The owner continued: “To make matters even more incomprehensible, since the abatement notice was issued and the complainant has moved out of their flat, there have been no further noise complaints. It’s simply unacceptable for MCC to continue the premise that the responsibility for this planning mistake lies with the developer or builder.
“We just want to get on with our lives and our business and keep Night & Day alive for the benefit and enjoyment of everyone in Manchester and beyond.”
Night & Day has recently been shortlisted for Music Week’s ‘Best Grassroots Venue in the UK’ award and over 98,000 people have signed the petition to keep the venue open. Jennifer and her family hope to continue operating and contributing to the local and national music scene as it has done for the past 32 years.