Northern Quarter music venue, Night & Day, has been threatened with closure by Manchester City Council after a noise complaint by a neighbour, they announced on Twitter yesterday.
In the Change.org petition established by the venue, they say Night & Day Cafe were served a Noise Abatement Notice on November 18th and Manchester City Council have labelled them a noise nuisance.
In their petition Night & Day claim the noise complaint was made by a new resident who moved into the area during the COVID-19 lockdowns while Night & Day was closed.
The venue said: “As the restrictions lifted and life retuned to the surrounding Northern Quarter area, we were able to put on our first live music event.
“The resident visited us next day and has since reported us to MCC a number of times. We have met the resident a number of times to explain what we do and that nothing has changed operationally to how we operated pre-lock down and the 28 years prior to that.”
Night & Day has been in operation on Oldham Street for 30 years, showcasing local artists and musical acts of the Northern Quarter and Manchester.
The petition, which reached 50,000 signatures within 24 hours, asked for the Noise Abatement Notice to be removed, instead blaming planning and construction for the issue.
The venue said: “Over the past 15 years, flats have been built or existing buildings converted to flats around us with no real thought or consideration to the pre-existing business, building and what it does.”
In response to the announcement, many users expressed support for the venue on social media with one saying: “Problems with filling city centres full of apartments – nothing else survives. Music history is important!”
Speaking with the Manchester Evening News, a spokesperson for Manchester City Council said: “To be clear the Council has not threatened Night and Day with closure.
“Following a number of repeated complaints from residents living nearby the Council investigated allegations of excessive noise coming from Night and Day. During these visits the Council’s officers found that noise levels were causing a nuisance.
“The Council has on multiple occasions tried to engage with this venue to try and reach a solution which works both for them, and residents. In spite of this further issues were reported, which meant the Council was left with no option other than to issue a NAN.
“The venue is entitled to appeal this Notice, and we would encourage them to work with the Council to avoid any future enforcement action.”
