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Andrew Charalambous |
‘Green’ club to stay open later
Residents lose nightspot licence battle
AN “eco-friendly” King’s Cross nightclub owned by a Tory donor property millionaire has won its battle to stay open later, despite attracting the ire of residents.
Andrew Charalambous won a weekend extension to his licence for Surya nightclub in Pentonville Road at a packed licensing sub-committee meeting at the Town Hall on Wednesday morning.
Mr Charalambous, who calls himself “Dr Earth” and claims his nightclub is the most eco-friendly on the planet, using a high-tech microgenerator system to create electricity from dancers’ pounding feet, was joined by 27 supporters clad in T-shirts bearing the slogan “Surya: proud of the world’s first ecological club.”
But while the club may be green, some of its neighbours have seen red. In letters of objection, residents in nearby streets complained of being woken at night by music and shouting emanating from the building and its surroundings.
The nightclub first applied for the extended hours a year ago but was turned down by the licensing committee. This time round, the committee decided in its favour, granting it the right to remain open until 2am on weekdays and 4am on Fridays and Saturdays.
Patrick Hegarty, chairman of the Weston Rise Estate Management Association, said: “On the weekend it won’t matter as much, but we are particularly concerned about people standing outside the club and making noise on weekdays in the summer months. We felt a 12am closing time was plenty late enough.”
Barrister Gerald Gouriet, representing Surya, argued that the absence of complaints about the club to the council’s Noise Team over the past 12 months showed residents’ fears were unfounded. He added: “In the past year no complaints have been made at all.”
Mr Charalambous said his club makes no profit and hosts regular events in aid of good causes. Customers of Surya who can prove they arrive by foot or by bike gain free admission. There are also plans to install a recycled water system to flush its lavatories.
Mr Charalambous told the Tribune: “The licensing committee’s decision shows the local authority is taking its green responsibilities seriously. The kind of people who come to our club are the eco crowd, and they don’t tend to be a rowdy lot.”
James Murray, Labour councillor for Barnsbury ward, who spoke against the licence extension, said: “I am very disappointed by the decision. About 20 people signed the petition against these extensions. A lot of people have written in to complain but they couldn’t take time off work to attend the meeting.”
He added that he planned to tell residents to report all problems with noise to the council’s Noise Team and the licensing committee, who have the power to rescind the licence extensions if they are found to be causing a nuisance. |
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