Help Us Save Local Music Venues!

In Brighton and Hove many music venues have shut in the last decade, including the Freebutt, Pressure Point, Blind Tiger Club and Sticky Mike's Frog Bar. These grassroots venues were vital in giving bands such as Blood Red Shoes, the Kooks and British Sea Power early opportunities to tour, as well as sustaining our city's vibrant music scene. Beatrice Bass, our Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Hove and Portslade, used to be a professional musician who started out at local venues before moving onto international tours. She wants to save our music venues and help keep Brighton and Hove a destination for live music.

The Agent of Change principle in planning law puts an obligation on developers building near live music venues to soundproof new developments, protecting music venues from being shut down from noise complaints ‒ as happened with the Freebutt and Blind Tiger Club. This also applies to other public venues, like pubs or clubs. Thanks to previous campaigns the Agent of Change principle has been added to the National Planning Policy Framework. However many local councils, including Brighton and Hove, haven't fully adopted this and are leaving grassroots venues in danger.

Beatrice says: "Brighton and Hove has a thriving music scene with so many amazing up-and-coming artists. It is the town where bands like British Sea Power, Royal Blood and Martha Gunn started out. It is vital we do anything we can and cover all avenues to protect our music venues. Adopting the agent of change principle in local planning law will ensure that no noise complaints can be made by residents of new developments against our existing music venues."

If you're a Brighton & Hove resident, you can help us save local music venues! Click here to sign our petition calling upon Brighton & Hove City Council to fully implement the agent of change principle.