Save Thekla Bristol Interview with Manager Alex Black
Posted on: 07 Nov 2017Everyone in Bristol will know Thekla as the city’s beloved grassroots music boat. A longstanding venue for some of the best gigs and nightlife events around town, the boat resides on the harbour. Recently, Thekla has been in dispute with developers who are planning to build residential housing nearby. This means that the future of the venue looks uncertain, as it will become vulnerable to noise complaints. Across the UK, an estimated 35% of grassroots music venues closed down between 2007 and 2015, many due to issues like this. If Thekla closes, it would be a huge loss to the Bristol music scene and to its cultural identity.
We caught up with Thekla’s general manager, Alex Black to find out what exactly is going on and how we, the people of Bristol can help save the ship.
Why is the iconic Thekla in jeopardy?
There is a planning application in place on an area of land directly opposite our venue for property development, at present it has been recommended for approval by planning officers. If this development goes ahead with inadequate soundproofing, it would leave the Thekla vulnerable to complaints from residents about noise. In response, Bristol City Council can issue a noise abatement notice (which could force the volume inside the venue to be lowered to such a quiet level that no-one would want to play or go to events there). With no gigs or clubs – the venue would have to close.
Do you believe that Thekla has the rights to remain as it always has been, over the complaints of the future residential development?
I wouldn’t say any person or venue has any more rights than another, however after providing Bristol with live music and club nights for over 33 years we should certainly be taken into consideration for any future developments. Many venues have been forced to close in recent years as residential developments have sprung in close by. It is entirely reasonable to ask developers to make sure their residents are protected by sound proofing their development to prevent existing noises in the locality from disturbing their residents.
There was a recent noise assessment carried out, why was it not totally adequate?
The noise assessment was undertaken at a time when we were either closed or outputting minimal noise on a weekday evening. For all parties involved we feel a new assessment should be taken at a time where we’re at our busiest to get the most accurate readings.
What are the main concerns as raised by the DHP Family (owners of Thekla)?
Our concerns all come down to the noise assessment that was taken place – we feel it was inadequate and therefore any soundproofing put in place based on those results won’t be fit for purpose.
Why is it crucial for Thekla to have adequate soundproofing?
At present we feel that Thekla does have adequate sound proofing – we receive very minimal complaints from the few local residents that are near us. Although, if there isn’t adequate soundproofing accounted for in this new development, it could be a different matter. This could leave us liable to a high volume of complaints from new residents. This could lead to the closure of the venue if its is no longer viable as a result of being forced to operate with much lower sound levels.
What impact will the potential jeopardy of Thekla have on Bristol and its music scene?
Bristol has a thriving music scene, covering all genres of music and all styles of events. We cater for thousands of people each week whether it be catching your favourite band on tour or dancing the weekend away in one of our club nights. Many of the city’s venues have stood the test of time throughout the years, but with continued developments like this we could soon lose a large chunk of Bristol’s heart and soul.
This is obviously very similar with what happened to The Fleece, have you been liaising with Chris Sharp the owner?
We have a good relationship with Chris and the team at The Fleece – we were supportive of his recent campaign and I’m sure he’ll repay the favour to us!
If it is student housing, would this be better?
Having a few more hundred students close by may certainly be good for business but the same issues would still be prevalent. Students need sound proofing as much as anyone else and all we want is for all our venue to be taken into fair consideration for whatever the developers have in mind.
How likely is this development to be going forward?
We know it’s been recommended for approval by planning officers so it seems quite likely.
What can the people of Bristol do to help Thekla in its plight with the developers?
We’re inviting the people of Bristol to join our fight and share the hashtag #savethekla .
We want people to re-share news stories, dig out any old photos of them at Thekla, share all of their experiences and generally make a lot of noise about the issue. Email their local councillor and MP and ask them to support Thekla in its objection to planning being granted before a proper noise assessment and sound proofing scheme is assessed and proved to be sufficient for the residents and Thekla to co-exist.
They can also add comments to the planning application here
Article by:
Hannah recently graduated with a degree in English with Writing. She is an avid writer, freelancer and creative. She is currently writing her first full-length novel and a collection of poetry. Always out and about in Bristol's music scene, she attends music events on a weekly basis.
