Iconic London nightlife venue Rowans is reportedly under threat from developers.
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The venue is at risk due to plans for a residential development in the local area that is currently being considered by Haringey Council.
Councillors are reviewing plans to transform the Finsbury Park bowling alley and late-night bar into 190 flats, per North London News.
Plans to redevelop Rowans were first put forward in 2017, but now a new public consultation notice has been published regarding the future of the venue. These plans allude to the potential for “new and/or replacement leisure, culture and community uses” on the site.
“Existing public benefits arising from Rowans bowling alley must be re-secured, including providing affordable and inclusive facilities which cater to a full range of people, including young people,” the proposal reads.
Rumours of the planned proposal led to an outcry on social media, with users appealing for responses to the public consultation notice before the deadline on Friday (December 19).
Despite this, in a statement, Haringey Council insisted it had no plans to “knock down” Rowans. “We know that Rowans is a much-loved local space for our community and there are no proposals to replace it,” Councillor Sarah Williams from Haringey Council said.
However, she did acknowledge the new local plan, which identified Rowan’s Bowling Alley as a site with the opportunity to provide new homes, per the London Standard.
Rowan’s have also since responded with a statement on social media, writing “We ain’t going anywhere!”
East London’s MOTH Club is facing a similar threat right now, with the venue owners taking to social media back in September 2024 to call on local residents and fans to reach out to the borough’s planning department to contest a proposal for a new block of flats.
They were later hit with two separate planning applications for flats on Morning Road, next to MOTH Club, which were submitted to Hackney Council.
A petition to oppose the planning applications went on to receive more than 25,000 signatures, with owners urging people in posts shared earlier this month to “keep the pressure on, sign and share the petition and write to the council”. Visit here to find out more and to sign the petition.
Last month, Music Venue Trust issued a statement on the future of Moth Club, saying its potential closure poses an “existential threat” to all grassroots venues.
The need for new regulations follows a series of high-profile cases in recent years, including Night & Day Cafe in Manchester, which was issued a noise abatement notice by Manchester City Council in November 2021 due to a noise complaint from a resident who had moved to Manchester during lockdown.
The nearly three-year-long row ended with the venue being told to impose restrictions that limited noise late at night to a reasonable level.
New developments being opened near venues have been a cause for concern for owners faced with the risk of noise complaints from tenants.
Plans for a new office block next to the Prince Albert pub in Brighton were approved on appeal in January, after being refused in November 2023. More than 1200 people objected to the planning application, and more than 22,000 have since signed a petition objecting to the plans.
Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, said that the venue faced a “slow death” if planning permission for a new development is allowed to go ahead.
In July, the government announced new plans which are supposed to give venues that are subject to noise complaints by nearby residential developments “greater protection”.
The new measures, which were published back in November under the national licensing policy framework, mean that developers would have to take responsibility for soundproofing flats and apartments near existing pubs or music venues.
The new protection will be ushered in under the “agent of change principle”, with the Department for Business and Trade saying it will consider further options to support established venues under the new framework.
