London's Plastic People were recently served notice that the venue had failed in its duties regarding "prevention of public nuisance" and "prevention of crime anti-disorder."
The note was left on the club's door last weekend, and has since resulted in a flurry of activity. The club's management are now busy getting ready for an impending hearing to defend themselves against the charges, which will take place after the closing date for representations on March 11th, and before March 31st. The establishment will now have its licence conditions looked at and possibly revised, with the possibility that its licence will be revoked if a strong case for closure of the venue is given at the hearing.
This has obviously upset many Plastic People regulars, who continue to cite the club's booming sound system and no-nonsense decor as the main reason that they return so often. Then there are also the club nights that are under threat, with FWD>>, Warm, Medium, Buzzin' Fly and many others set to move in the worst case scenario.
The management have taken the threat seriously, consulting with the police and solicitors to see how best to proceed. They have come up with an official statement describing their position, which reads as follows:Hello everyone, and thank you very much for your support. We know that Plastic People is loved by all of you, but we could never have predicted the reactions from so many people in such a short time. It has been overwhelming. On behalf of everyone here at Plastic People, special thanks to Benny Blanco for starting the Keep Plastic People Alive Campaign and to all of you who are showing your appreciation for what the club has done over the last 16 years.
Charlotte and I are in no doubt how serious this situation is and as a result had a meeting with the solicitor yesterday. This does not mean that all hope is lost and that Plastic People has come to its end. However, it does mean that we must do all we can to co-operate with the Police and Hackney Council in order to ensure that we can keep the best dance music venue in London open for all to enjoy.
Here is a breakdown of the whole process:
• The police have made an application to Hackney Council for a review the premises licence at Plastic People on the grounds that the way the management have been operating the club has breached the existing terms of its licence and failed to prevent crime and disorder and public nuisance.
• The notice outside the club’s premises will be there till the 11th March, which is the closing date for representations to be made by ‘interested parties’ (unfortunately this does not include you guys, but there may be an opportunity for you to make a contribution, see below) for or against the closure or any other outcome of the review.
• After the 11th, the licensing department at Hackney Council will, within 10 days, write to all parties concerned to invite them to a sub-committee hearing on a given date at a given address where they would make their case. That hearing should take place by the 31st of March.
• It would then be up to the Committee to decide on the eventual outcome which could be one or more of these:
(a) To revoke the license altogether;
(b) To suspend the license for a period not exceeding three months;
(c) To modify the conditions of the license;
Once a decision has been made, we would be notified and in the worst case scenario, we would have the option of appealing, but our current aim is to work with the Police and the Licensing Authority to find a solution that is satisfactory to all. Having never had problems with our licence over 16 years, whether in Oxford Street or Shoreditch, we are optimistic that this will be possible. Whilst the management concentrate on working With the Police and Hackney Council to address their concerns, much still needs to be done. Unfortunately, we can’t make the full version of the Police application openly available at this stage. A collection of people involved in the club are setting up a Committee called Friends of Plastic People. They will gather people’s experiences of working with and attending Plastic People over the years. They will meet this week and no doubt they will let you know how you can help.
I would urge everyone to hold back on making representations to the Police or the Council in the meantime, but by all means carry on spreading the word.
Once again, my most heartfelt gratitude to all of you!
The full police report on why action has been taken about Plastic People has yet to be released into the public domain, although details of it are leaking out over at the Keep Plastic People Alive page on Facebook, for those interested in the case.