1,000 signatures reached
To: Mayor of Hackney
Save Dance Tunnel
Please give Dance Tunnel a 5am license so that it is not forced to close.
Why is this important?
Dance Tunnel is one of the most forward thinking small nightclubs in London and arguably the best nightclub full stop. It was announced today that the club will be closing in August due to Hackney Council’s overbearing licensing conditions that do not allow the club to open beyond 3am except on very rare special occasions.
A 3am closing time means that the club is not financially viable. The club mostly makes its money at the bar (promoters usually take the door money). It only fills up after 12. Two hours is not enough time for the club to make enough money.
I live close by on Brighton Road. I own my house with my partner of 10 years. I’m nearly 30, my friends are getting married and having kids. I have a professional, serious job. And I absolutely love going to the Dance Tunnel.
The perception of nightclubs as dens of vice, frequented by an underclass of drug addicts is what appears to be driving Hackney’s strict licensing laws. But this is absurd. Normal people travel long distances to see DJs that have traveled long distances at the Dance Tunnel because it’s such a great place. They come to dance and forget about work, not to cause trouble. The ethos is unlike any other club in London. People go for the music. Everyone is friendly. The door staff even once took care of a chocolate bread and butter pudding that I had in my bag.
The owner, Dan Beaumont, owns an ever growing number of small businesses in Hackney and further afield. Voodoo Rays, his pizza place above the Dance Tunnel, is expanding to Croydon. The Council should be supporting entrepreneurs like this. Instead, he will have to literally take his business elsewhere.
I get that residents don’t want people puking in their gardens every weekend. And I can even sort of understand the policy of not granting new licenses outside “the strip”. But to force the closure of such a significant cultural asset is crazy. It makes me really, really sad.
And angry. Because it doesn't make sense. The aggro on the street, the smashed bottles, the angry neighbours...these are, in part, a result of clubs closing at 3am, turfing everyone out at the same time, when people aren't ready to go home. Let them stay open a bit longer, and people will go home of their own accord, quietly. When they're done.
So Hackney, please, please take another look and don't let this young but beautiful institution close. It's 100% in your hands.
A 3am closing time means that the club is not financially viable. The club mostly makes its money at the bar (promoters usually take the door money). It only fills up after 12. Two hours is not enough time for the club to make enough money.
I live close by on Brighton Road. I own my house with my partner of 10 years. I’m nearly 30, my friends are getting married and having kids. I have a professional, serious job. And I absolutely love going to the Dance Tunnel.
The perception of nightclubs as dens of vice, frequented by an underclass of drug addicts is what appears to be driving Hackney’s strict licensing laws. But this is absurd. Normal people travel long distances to see DJs that have traveled long distances at the Dance Tunnel because it’s such a great place. They come to dance and forget about work, not to cause trouble. The ethos is unlike any other club in London. People go for the music. Everyone is friendly. The door staff even once took care of a chocolate bread and butter pudding that I had in my bag.
The owner, Dan Beaumont, owns an ever growing number of small businesses in Hackney and further afield. Voodoo Rays, his pizza place above the Dance Tunnel, is expanding to Croydon. The Council should be supporting entrepreneurs like this. Instead, he will have to literally take his business elsewhere.
I get that residents don’t want people puking in their gardens every weekend. And I can even sort of understand the policy of not granting new licenses outside “the strip”. But to force the closure of such a significant cultural asset is crazy. It makes me really, really sad.
And angry. Because it doesn't make sense. The aggro on the street, the smashed bottles, the angry neighbours...these are, in part, a result of clubs closing at 3am, turfing everyone out at the same time, when people aren't ready to go home. Let them stay open a bit longer, and people will go home of their own accord, quietly. When they're done.
So Hackney, please, please take another look and don't let this young but beautiful institution close. It's 100% in your hands.
