Night & Day Cafe: Venue owner blames council for noise row

The Northern Quarter venue has been embroiled in a row with Manchester City Council

A music venue owner who successfully appealed against a noise abatement order has blamed a council for the row.

Ben Smithson, owner of Night & Day Cafe, Manchester, said he was relieved the court had accepted its compromise.

A judge allowed the Northern Quarter venue to continue its club nights with reduced noise levels.

Manchester City Council said it never sought to close Night & Day and the city's music venues overwhelmingly live in harmony with their neighbours

Mr Smithson said he was "very disappointed" the council had pursued it this far.

The venue had faced an uncertain future after Manchester Council served the notice in November 2021 following complaints from its neighbour.

The council served it after those in an adjacent flat complained about loud music at night.

Mr Smithson said: "We are very happy we can continue with the club nights which are essential to the survival of this venue."

He added: "We came up with a compromise from our acoustics expert which is a good experience for our dancers but not too loud for residents."

Mr Smithson said he was "absolutely surprised" to receive the notice and "very disappointed" the council pursued it.

Ben Smithson is disappointed with the council

He added it had been running for 32 years since his father-in-law converted it from a fish and chip to shop to a music venue.

Mr Smithson said when the council gave permission a residential development next door in 2000 it "did not take into account" the pre-existing venue.

He claimed he had to lodge an appeal as the council had not engaged with the venue to resolve the problem.

The venue was also backed by the Greater Manchester Music Commission - the body set up by Greater Manchester Combined Authority to support music in the city region.

The commission said it "welcomes news that an iconic grassroots music venue" can continue especially as it has "developed, championed, and provided a stage for some of the world's finest musical talent" for 32 years.

It said it was "troubling" the council has refused to take "ownership of historic planning mistakes".

The commission said another issue was that the judge considered the Northern Quarter a "mixed use" area rather than a district with a cultural focus.

It said that was an alarming message about the value the council places on "our cultural quarters" where a "single noise complaint could force them to change the very nature of their business".

District Judge Margaret McCormack found a nuisance was being caused by the DJ club nights that ran from 23:00 to 03:00 on Friday and Saturday nights but varied the noise abatement notice to allow the venue to continue operating under restrictions that limit noise to a "reasonable, practicable level".

A council statement it was extremely rare for it to issue a noise abatement notice adding while complaints and issues were not uncommon, they were almost always resolved through dialogue.

It said it wanted the venue to continue to play an active role in Manchester's music scene.

The council added an independent local ombudsman's report found that council's planning process in the early 2000s "was not to blame for excessive noise from the venue more than 20 years later".

Why not follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [e-mail]