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East London venues under threat: East Village has licence revoked, The Macbeth warns of residential development plans
By Andy Malt | Published on Friday 21 June 2013
Two venues in East London are currently under threat of permanent closure. In fact one, nightclub East Village, has already been temporarily shut down pending a police investigation. The Macbeth, meanwhile, is fighting a planning application to build a residential block directly behind it.
A notice posted outside East Village states that its licence has been revoked by Hackney Council, pending a review within four weeks, due to suspicions that two men involved with the venue are “connected to serious crime”. Police refused to go into details while the matter is still being investigated, but the notice does state that the two men were arrested under the Proceeds of Crime Act following a joint operation by the Hackney Metropolitan Police’s Money Laundering Team and Licensing Unit.
In a statement, the venue’s promotions and music team said yesterday that the closure had been “a shock and totally unexpected”. Two events due to take place this weekend, Player’s Ball and The Village, have been cancelled, while Soultogether on Saturday has been moved to Nomad on Old Street.
Meanwhile, the nearby Macbeth pub has launched a petition against a planning application that could see its live music nights curbed, or possibly ended altogether. The venue’s owners write: “There has been a planning application to build a block of private flats at the back and to the side of The Macbeth. If this building goes ahead and the new residents complain about noise from our venue, we could lose our licence and be forced to close. For the sake of nine residential units we, along with the livelihoods of all our staff, promoters and other local businesses will be under threat”.
