Culture 4 min read By Morgan Griffin
London’s Moth Club secures future after planning applications are rejected
Hackney’s Moth Club has confirmed it can remain open after Hackney Council refused a second set of flat developments that threatened to bring noise complaints and closure.
London’s Moth Club, the Hackney venue that has hosted emerging and established artists for more than five decades, has confirmed it is no longer under threat of closure. After more than two years of uncertainty, the club announced that Hackney Council had refused a second set of planning applications for flats next to the venue, allowing it to continue operating as normal.
The threat first emerged in 2024, when the club’s owners asked local residents to support their opposition to a development they said could “pose a serious threat” to the venue. A second wave of planning applications for flats followed. The owners argued that if these developments went ahead, they would increase the likelihood of a resident lodging a noise complaint, something the Music Venue Trust has repeatedly described as an “existential threat” to grassroots venues.
By December 2025, the council had received more than 27,000 emails of objection. In March 2026, the owners said the campaign had reached the halfway point after one of the applications was rejected, calling it a “huge win” while warning that the fight was not yet over. The latest decision removes the remaining threat. In a statement shared on Instagram, the owners wrote: “We got some great news this morning! WE’VE DONE IT! The second planning application next to the venue has been refused now too.”
The owners thanked the Mayor of Hackney, Zoë Garbett, and her team, as well as the Hackney Green Party, for standing with the venue at a pivotal stage. They also credited the 35,000 people who signed their petition, along with Hackney Nights, Save Our Scene, the NTIA and the Music Venue Trust. They said they would mark the result with what they called “the greatest party Moth has ever witnessed.”
Since opening in 1972, the Moth Club has supported a long list of emerging artists and hosted performances by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, IDLES, Jarvis Cocker, Lady Gaga, Caroline Polachek, Sprints, Wunderhorse and Amyl and the Sniffers, among others. Under its current programming, it has also become a hub for comedy, film nights and club events. Everything But The Girl, who reformed in 2023 and staged a residency there, are among its devoted fans. Speaking to NME about their new album, Blue Reservoir, singer Tracey Thorn and multi-instrumentalist Ben Watt praised the room’s atmosphere, with Watt describing its booths and low lighting as having a “slightly sleazy, port bar, jazz club kind of feel.”
The Moth Club’s fight is part of a wider struggle for UK grassroots music spaces. The Music Venue Trust said it was pleased by the scale of public support for the club and by how many people agreed it must be protected. Manchester’s Night & Day venue has faced similar pressure. It was first saved in 2014 after a battle against a noise complaint, and in 2021 it was forced to rally support again after the council issued a Noise Abatement Notice following a complaint from a resident who had moved nearby during lockdown. More than 94,000 people signed a petition against that notice, and the venue was allowed to keep operating.
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