Published
Tue, Apr 4, 2017, 14:18
- The Night Time Industries Association supports the idea of creating a role similar to those in London and Amsterdam.
Sacha Lord-Marchionne, founder of Warehouse Project and Parklife, is calling on Manchester to appoint a "night czar" to champion nighttime culture.
Lord-Marchionne, a board member of Night Time Industries Association, is pushing for the next Greater Manchester mayor to create the role of nighttime champion. The mayoral elections will be held next month.
He told the Manchester Evening News: "I think we are certainly up there [with cities like London and Berlin] but we are far from a 24-hour city. It is so disjointed. When I stand outside the Warehouse Project I see the taxis that are picking people up and I'm wondering why they have to get a taxi back to Bury when there's a tram line that's closed. I don't see why it can't be running until 3 AM or 4 AM at the weekends. Even if you put private policing on there, the amount of people who would use it would more than cover the cost."
Lord-Marchionne did not rule himself out of going for the role of night czar, should it be created. "It's got to be somebody who understands the city, and who is possibly an operator themselves," he said to Manchester Evening News. "I would have a conversation with the newly elected mayor and see whether we understood each other."
In November of 2016, London mayor Sadiq Khan appointed Amy Lamé as its first-ever night czar, in a role that's similar to the one currently held by Mirik Milan in Amsterdam. Berlin, meanwhile, has the Berlin Club Commission to fight clubland's corner.