Chill out, the neighbours have nothing to fear from Zubi

Published: 22 October, 2010
by TERRY MESSENGER

A NIGHTSPOT owner has invited councillors “to chill out” with him at his new club to prove it will not upset worried neighbours.

Stanley Thomas wants to show members of Islington Council’s licensing committee that his Zubi club in Holloway will be quiet and its clientele well behaved.

His gesture follows protests by neighbours who fear their lives will be wrecked by noise when the club opens in Holloway Road in a month’s time.

The council committee gave Zubi a licence to open until 5am on Saturdays and Sundays and midnight during the week – but threatened to take it away if residents’ lives are disrupted.

Mr Thomas said: “It’s not a nightclub in the traditional sense – it’s a chill-out venue. I’m going to invite people from Islington Council so they can see what we mean by chill-out joint.”

The committee gave Mr Thomas the go-ahead last week but he formed the impression that members did not grasp the concept behind the venue, which he has spent £85,000 refurbishing.

“Chill-out means you have your wine with a little bit of background music, just like you would in your sitting room,” he said.

“There will be a relaxed and civilised atmosphere where you can have a decent conversation and forget about work and everything.”

If so, it will contrast with neighbours’ experience of a previous nightspot in the building, which closed six months ago.

Anonymous protest letters from residents, who share the premises with Zubi, complained of “intoxication, vomiting, fighting and urination in our entranceway”.

In addition to Zubi, the building houses mainly young families.

Mohamed Dib, who lives just above the club with his pregnant wife Samira and baby Mariam, said: “Last time we couldn’t get any sleep. It was just a heavy bass beat all night – boom, boom, boom. The house shook.

“If it’s a restaurant or a shop that’s fine – but a nightclub like before would be a nightmare.” 

Labour councillor Barry Edwards said: “They kept describing it as a chill-out venue – but that’s not a term that is defined in law. It implies a place where people go when they still want a beer but don’t want to leap around.”

The 63-year-old councillor added: “I’m a little bit past the nightclub stage myself. I might have chilled out in my younger days but we didn’t call it that then.”

He said he looked forward to chilling out with Mr Thomas and would check his diary.