I’ve dealt with gangsters and petrol bombs, but Nimbys are a bigger threat to nightlife
As founder of the world’s biggest nightclub and a festival for 80,000 punters, Manchester’s night time economy advisor Sacha Lord has dealt with guns and petrol bombs. But he says the biggest threat he’s encountered is Nimbys trying to shut down festivals like Brockwell Live
What qualifies me to write about Nimbys being nightlife’s biggest pain in the backside?
Well, I’ve been in the industry for over 30 years. I founded the world’s biggest nightclub during my time, The Warehouse Project. I founded the biggest metropolitan festival for 80,000 punters, Parklife. I’m chair of The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) and was Greater Manchester’s first ever night time economy advisor.
I’ve been there, seen it, bought the t-shirt and in fact sold the t-shirt last year.
Starting in the early 90s in Manchester, I’ve dealt with the lot, from gun-wielding gangsters to petrol bombs. Did that bother me? Of course it did, but the biggest threat I encountered, which was there when I started and still exists now, is the Nimby.
Nimbys are the scourge of the night time economy. People who move into busy, bustling areas like Soho, only to complain about the noise, are as ludicrous as those who move next to churches, then complain about the bells. There are even people who move next to farms, then complain about smells. Sounds ridiculous? It is, but these people exist right across the country.
As a proud Manc, I watch the capital closely, as I believe a thriving capital spills over into the rest of the UK. It hasn’t been pleasant watching the demise of its night time economy recently, which is why I’m even more staggered that a group of Nimbys tried to stop Brockwell Live, a set of really great, well-run, inclusive events, taking place annually at Brockwell Park.
Nimbys cost thousands of jobs
It takes a year of hard work to plan an event like this and if it goes wrong or has to be cancelled, it can literally cost the organiser everything. I’ve seen it; houses have to be sold, relationships break up, lawyers get rich over legals. These Nimbys were happy for that to happen. Even more so, I watched them gloating about it on social media for days.
When you include security and bar staff, thousands of people could have lost their jobs. Freelancers, part of the 3.8 million people who didn’t receive any financial support during Covid, were about to be thrown to the wolves. Up-and-coming artists, who were about to get their first big break, would have had the rug pulled from their dreams. Yet still the Nimbys gloated.
Even more worrying, other groups around other parks in London, which run successful events, have started to gather and there is now talk of similar legal threats being thrown at the councils and organisers.
Do they not understand the financial benefits events bring to an area, in terms of extra trade for taxis, pubs, bars, takeaways, hotels and more? When Parklife is on in Manchester, just for that one weekend, it generates £13m of extra income for the local economy. An economy that right now is extremely fragile. We’re currently losing 50 pubs a month and events like this are the boost that they need.
Most of these events also make serious charitable donations. When I was involved in Parklife, we used to raise around £100,000 for local projects. Anything from hanging baskets at homes for the elderly, to a new slide in a children’s playground. I noted one of the events that makes up Brockwell Live, Field Day even went as far as donating artists’ fees to charity as they could no longer play.
I haven’t seen the financials, but I am confident that the rental fee for Brockwell Live will pay a substantial part of the park’s annual upkeep. If you are a local resident complaining, but also enjoying the park for the rest of the year, maybe you should reach out and thank the organisers for helping out a cash-strapped Council.
If you complain you are actively devaluing your property. When you eventually come to sell, your solicitor will have to tell the buyer that there have been noise issues
If you are reading this and you are one of the complainants, or are gathering others to complain at other parks, you are actively devaluing your properties. When you eventually come to sell, your solicitor will have to tell the buyer that there have been noise issues.
I’m delighted the council saw sense over Brockwell Live. I’m delighted the events successfully took place. I’m even more delighted that tickets are already on sale for next year.
I’d say that’s a solid event organisers 1, Nimbys 0 …. and they even lost at home.
Sacha Lord is founder of The Warehouse Project/Parklife, former night time economy adviser to the Mayor of Manchester, chair of NTIA and author of Tales From the Dancefloor