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Hackney Council issues statement on Dance Tunnel closure
By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 13 April 2016
Hackney Council has issued a statement after Dalston venue Dance Tunnel announced that it will close in August due to “the licensing climate in Hackney”.
In a statement earlier this week, the venue’s operators said: “Sadly the licensing climate in Hackney has made it impossible for us to get the hours we need to make Dance Tunnel sustainable in the long term”.
However, the local council has now issued a statement refuting that clam. “Dance Tunnel has a premises licence to operate until 3am”, it says. “They have not applied to extend their opening hours for over two years. They have however been able to regularly operate until 5am using Temporary Event Notices”.
It continues: “Hackney Council values its vibrant and exciting nightlife, and we are proud of the borough’s reputation as a night-time destination. However, we need to balance the needs of businesses against the rights of our residents to a good night’s sleep, and as both our population and night time economy grow, that is becoming increasingly hard to do”.
On the ongoing development of its licensing policy the council says: “In February we organised a meeting in Shoreditch with residents and business owners to hear their opinions about how we can strike the right balance. We’ll be arranging other opportunities for people to have their say over the coming months, and this will feed into our licensing strategy”.
As a petition to save the venue gained traction, the venue’s owners also issued a new statement, saying that their mind was already made up.
“We are extremely humbled by the response to yesterday’s announcement, and the fact that Dance Tunnel means so much to so many people”, they said. “It hasn’t been an easy decision to make, but for us Dance Tunnel’s future lies elsewhere – we still feel that London is still missing the club it truly deserves. We need to regroup and look further afield to find a space where we are subject to fewer compromises. We would like to offer our heartfelt and sincere thanks to everyone who has been in touch to offer support”.
