LONDON (CelebrityAccess) A bill has been submitted to the UK’s parliament that is designed to end the rise of the country’s venue closures, and it has the backing of several major performers.
Paul McCartney, Ray Davies, Chrissie Hynde and Prink Floyd’s Nick Mason are just a few to back the Planning (Agent of Change) Bill, according to TheTicketingBusiness, and performers like Billy Bragg, Feargal Sharkey and Howard Jones stood near Westminster Jan. 11 to show support of the bill.
Basically, the agent of change principle means that whatever entity introduces new land use is responsible for the impact of that change, according to PlaceMakingResource.
About 35 percent of music venues have been razed over the past decade in the UK, according to TheTicketingBusiness, and some that have closed their doors include Manchester’s Free Trade Hall, Roadhouse and Sound Controol, Liverpool’s Kazimier and Sheffield’s Boardwalk.
The bill was introduced Jan. 11 by MP John Spellar but has the backing of at least 75 MPs and peers, as well as the Music Venue Trust, UK Music and the Musicians’ Union, along with ticketing company Skiddle, according to the news report.
“This bill is designed to protect existing music venues from facing closure or crippling cost arising from development of new residential properties in their vicinity,” Spellar said. “What the bill will do in practice is that when buildings near a music venue are converted to residential use or a new development is put up, the onus will be on the developer – not the venue – to ensure the new dwellings are protected from factors (particularly noise) which could be significantly disrupting to residents. The present situation, where this is not the case, is having a crippling effect on music venues.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has committed to the principle in his London Plan, according to the Agent of Change Campaign.
