Moth Club campaigners in dark over plans for neighbouring block – as 20,000 sign petition

Hackney’s Moth Club. Photograph: Josef Steen / free for use by LDRS partners

Campaigners hoping to protect the legendary Moth Club are still waiting for Hackney Council to shed light on plans for a block of flats next door.

Last year, organisers appealed for public support against proposals for private apartments that would “directly overlook” the venue.

They fear the plans could lead to more noise complaints and “jeopardise” the future of the club, which has seen the likes of Lady Gaga, Dave Grohl and Rick Astley grace its stage.

An online petition objecting to two separate planning applications has now reached close to 20,000 signatures.

But campaigners said they are still in the dark after a decision originally expected in March was postponed.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the club’s operators said the venue would be “attacked on all sides” if the development goes through.

“For the last 10 years, we’ve tried as hard as we can to make people aware that we are open, but also that we are conscious of our noise.

“It’s incredibly disheartening when we consider how little we can do to defend ourselves against these complaints,” said general manager Edie Kench-Andrews.

“Right now, I can push people leaving the venue onto Mare Street or Morning Lane, knowing that will make it easier for people living around us. But I can’t do anything about a block of flats next-door.”

Ms Kench-Andrews, who has been in charge since January last year, worries that if the venue cannot make noise it will not be able to stay open.

While the campaigners have been asking Hackney Council for more information, they said the Town Hall has so far not responded.

“We don’t want this to just get washed away,” Ms Kench-Andrews said.

Moth Club first opened in 1972 as a servicemen’s club, and though it has achieved international recognition as a music venue, it has carried on in this tradition, with new members still coming through its doors.

In 2015, it was taken over by local events agency LNZRT and revamped into a music and comedy space, now known for its stage’s distinctive gold ribbon curtains and shimmering ceiling – but its trades hall furnishings are mostly intact.

In February this year, the Music Venue Trust warned that the UK was seeing two grassroots music venues close every week, with nearly half (43.8%) operating at a loss in the last year.

This followed the Night Time Industries Association revealing in 2024 that 3,011 businesses had shut in the capital and the commuter belt since March 2020.

“It’s a timeless issue – there are countless London venues lost to new builds and investors coming in and ruining local spaces,” said Ms Kench-Andrews, who was born and raised in Hackney.

“Moth Club is such a good representation of how music, small venues and community can come together, hand in hand. It really does rub off on you.”

The LDRS asked Hackney Council for an update on the planning application following the extension in March.

The Town Hall responded by saying that the planning application was currently still live and under consideration, that planning officers do respond to enquiries, and that all interested parties who have commented on the application will be updated should the application be referred to the planning sub-committee, or if a decision is made.