A Manchester music venue will be back in court next week for a third time as a row over noise rumbles on. The Northern Quarter's Night & Day Cafe is still appealing a legal notice from Manchester council issued more than 18 months ago.
The local authority served a noise abatement notice on the Mancunian music institution in November 2021 following a complaint from a neighbouring flat. The following year, a court was told that council officers could hear the high pitch vocals of Eurythmics's 'Sweet Dreams are Made of This' from the flat.
Manchester Magistrates' Court also heard that the couple who complained about the noise which made their bedrooms 'uninhabitable' moved out of the apartment after spending £21,000 on sound insulation. Rex Chesney told the court that his partner became a 'recluse' due to media coverage of the case.
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It comes after a petition calling on the council to withdraw the legal notice received national attention. In January, the town hall said it was 'hopeful' of finding a solution and the third scheduled day the hearing was adjourned.
However, in March, the case returned to court after talks broke down. But after five hours of discussions, District Judge Margaret McCormack adjourned the case again after warning that both parties would be 'going round in circles'.
It was agreed that extra noise testing would be carried out. The case is now set to return to the court for a three-day hearing starting on Tuesday (July 4).
In a post on social media, Night & Day (N&D) said: "More than 18 months ago Manchester City Council served a Noise Abatement Notice on us based on a single noise complaint from a resident. N&D has continued to operate in exactly the same manner during this period and exactly the same as it has done previously for over 30 years. The resident who complained moved out several months ago, and we've not received any further noise complaints.
"N&D maintains that the source of this problem is that no acoustic consideration was given during the planning and development stages of the apartments next to the pre-existing venue N&D. This is confirmed within the apartments planning file held today at MCC Planning Portal.
"We head back to court next week for a three day hearing, hopeful that this matter will finally be resolved and enable N&D to continue doing what it does best-putting on bands,nurturing culture and creativity, and putting smiles on the faces of the people that visit the venue."
In November, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman said it would not investigate a complaint by the venue about the council's planning actions in 2000 because of the ongoing appeal in the magistrates court. This means the matter is outside of the jurisdiction of the ombudsman, the report said.
A Manchester council spokesperson said: "Work is ongoing to reach an agreement on sound levels which both parties can agree on, and which would settle this case amicably. The council has sought throughout this process, for more than a year, to reach a solution with Night & Day which enables them to remain commercially viable while recognising the needs of residents and our legal obligations.
"We remain absolutely committed to this goal but with the latest court hearing pending it would not be appropriate for us to comment further on this specific case. The city's music venues are an important part of the fabric of the city, playing a vital role in the night-time economy and in creating opportunities for new artists.
"Recently the Council announced a major and independent review into Manchester's grassroots music venues and how the council and its partners can better support and champion them, while being considerate of residents and businesses and the council's legal responsibilities."
