A renowned venue in the Northern Quarter is fighting back after being hit with a nuisance notice from Manchester City Council.
Night and Day Café fears closure after being served with a statutory nuisance abatement notice following a noise complaint from one of their neighbours.
The music venue, which has been a staple in the community for 23 years, has retaliated by launching an online petition ordering Manchester City Council to remove the warning.
A staggering 1,000 people showed their support within an hour of the campaign going live and the number quickly grew to more than 10,000 as the night continued.
It now stands at 13,000 signatures.
Promoter Gareth Butterworth told MM that he decided to start the petition after a neighbour’s consistent complaints about the volume of the music were investigated by the council.
He said that much of the uproar stems from the fact that the resident next door has lived in the building for less than a year.
Mr Butterworth said: “It seems ridiculous that it has gone this far. Of course we know that music can be annoying but we have done our best to sound proof.
“We have spoken to the man a few times and obviously we have tried to explain the nature of our business and told him what we do and what we have done to ease the noise, but he still made the complaint.”
The Oldham Street venue regularly features live music and famous names such as Jonny Marr, Crystal Castles and Tom Odell have previously performed sets in front of sold-out audiences.
Mr Butterworth has said that because of the venue’s storied history it will continue to present live music as it always has.
He said: “We do live music, which is the problem. But we have been a live music venue for over 20 years and we have never turned our music down because we have never had to.
“We plan to carry on as normal but we know that if there is another complaint we could be in trouble. Worst case scenario is that we could get shut down.”
The petition rapidly picked up pace after hundreds of loyal fans promoted the campaign by sharing it on social networks.
Staff at the venue are now hoping that the public backlash will cause the council to cease with their inquiry as they fear losing their jobs if not.
Mr Butterworth has said how much the team appreciates the dedication from the thousands vying to keep the music hotspot alive.
He said: “I think it’s astonishing. We knew we were popular because we have been around here so long but to get this many signatures in unbelievable.
“It just proves how much of an asset we are.”
While most users took to the internet to share the petition, many were considerably vocal about their feelings and wanted to voice their frustration.
Twitter user Andrew Gilmour said: “I’d be mortified to see the Night and Day Café shut down due to a complaint from a resident who has lived there for less than a year. Pathetic!”
User Neil Rimmer simply tweeted: “This is madness.”
This animosity was also felt outside of Manchester as live music fans began to back the campaign from all over the country.
Ian McDougall said: “That’s outrageous… even though I’m in London I’m signing that.”
You can visit their petition here.
Picture courtesy of Man Alive! with thanks.
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