Cornerstone Barristers instructed in Brixton nightclub judicial review
Commercial and Regulatory, Planning and Environment
The planning permission, which was granted on 16 September 2015, will force Club 414’s doors to close after 30 years in business. Club 414 pioneered the night-time economy in Brixton, having opened shortly after the Brixton Riot of 1985. Having laid the foundations for the many thriving bar, club and restaurant businesses in Brixton, Club 414 has now been added to the list of the many historic Brixton businesses at risk of closure, as the area is transformed and property prices rise.
The consultation on the planning application attracted significant levels of public interest, yet the grant of permission was made by officers under delegated powers. This forms one of the grounds of challenge in the judicial review claim.
Other issues in the claim will include:
- whether the loss of the existing nightclub use was a material consideration which should have been taken into account by the Council; and
- whether the issue of noise impacts from surrounding licensed premises was dealt with properly, an issue which is of great concern to licensed operators across the country. Noise impacts played a crucial role in the recent KOKO litigation (in which Cornerstone Barristers’ Tom Cosgrove acted for the successful nightclub owner).
A decision on permission is awaited.
The outcome of this case will be of great interest to owners and operators of licensed premises, lawyers dealing with the overlap between licensing and planning law and, of course, to the many thousands of guests and supporters of Club 414 from Brixton to Brisbane.
