Moth Club is celebrating its second planning victory of the year after Hackney Council refused permission for flats next door, easing fears for the venue’s survival.
Council officers turned down a proposal (Thursday 29 October) from applicant M Ganatra to build a six-storey block with a ground-floor commercial unit and seven flats directly adjacent to the music and comedy club. In March, the council refused the same developer’s application for six private flats on Morning Lane.
The scheme, at 4–6 Morning Lane, would have replaced two single-storey units – home to Tomi’s Kitchen restaurant and a Scope charity shop – whose rear abuts the club.
The application was submitted in June 2024 and was due to be decided by March 2025. The decision came more than 19 months after that deadline.
Campaign
Campaigners had warned that the scheme could “jeopardise the venue’s future, dealing yet another blow to London’s dwindling independent venue scene”.
General manager Edie Kench-Andrews told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that the club faced being “attacked on all sides” if the council approved flats nearby. A rise in noise complaints from future neighbours, she said, could lead to noise abatement notices and further restrictions on the venue.
A petition backing the club against the developments gathered more than 36,000 signatures. It stated: “Complaints lead to conditions on the licence, and conditions on the licence are how grassroots venues close.” In December 2025, the council received more than 27,000 emails from supporters urging it to protect the venue.
Grounds
Planners refused permission on four grounds: noise impact, affordable housing provision, the effect on parking and traffic, and environmental sustainability.
They said that, without a noise impact assessment capturing a live music event at the Moth Club, it had not been demonstrated that the development “would not give rise to undue noise and disturbance to future occupiers”. The refusal cites the London Plan’s “agent of change” policy, which makes developers who build next to existing venues responsible for dealing with their noise.
The scheme also made no provision for affordable housing, leading planners to conclude that it would “fail to adequately contribute towards the provision of mixed and balanced communities and housing needs in the local area”.
The two remaining grounds relate to legal agreements that were never completed: one to bar future residents from obtaining parking permits, and another to secure a payment towards carbon offsetting.
Ganatra has until 29 April 2027 to appeal against the decision to the Planning Inspectorate.
Thanks
After the decision, Moth Club welcomed “the news we had all been waiting for”. On behalf of the club, founder Keith Miller thanked its “amazing” supporters, as well as the council and its planning department for their “due diligence”.
In a statement to the LDRS, Miller and Kench-Andrews said: “Of course, a massive thank you to everyone who crusades to support nightlife every single day. We couldn’t have done it without Hackney Nights, Save Our Scene, the NTIA, and the Music Venue Trust for everything they’ve done for us.”
The club also thanked the mayor of Hackney, Zoë Garbett, and her cabinet colleagues for “backing grassroots music in Hackney”. It praised Green councillor Laura-Louise Fairley (Hackney Downs ward) and the Hackney Green party for “standing with us and pushing on forward at a pivotal stage”.
Tin hats
The club occupies an early 20th-century former trades hall. It opened in 1972 as a “shellhole”, a branch of the Memorable Order of Tin Hats, an association for ex-servicemen that gave the club its name. In 2015, local events agency LNZRT took it over and revamped it as a music and comedy venue. It is known for the gold ribbon curtains on its stage and its shimmering ceiling.
The club has since won international recognition, hosting acts including Lady Gaga, Dave Grohl and Rick Astley. According to Kench-Andrews, veterans still come through its doors, and much of the original trades-hall furnishing remains intact.
The campaign was backed by musicians including Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor and the band Amyl and the Sniffers. Miller also named Green Day, Lewis Capaldi and Tame Impala as supporters.
Miller and Kench-Andrews said the club would now honour an earlier promise to throw “the greatest party Moth has ever witnessed”.
“We meant it. Watch this space,” they said.
With additional reporting by Hackney Citizen
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