The Birmingham Post today featured the problems faced by The Rainbow, who have been threatened with a Noise Abatement Order by Birmingham City Council after complaints from just one Abacus tenant.
Mr Davis said this would signal the end of the venue, as it would not be able to afford the work necessary to prevent the sound of music escaping from the pub. “At the conclusion of the noise survey we will have to look at how we can mitigate the volumes and that will involve structural work which will run into tens of thousands of pounds that we just haven’t got. We will end up with a noise abatement order which we will contest but ultimately the cost of doing that will mean that a great institution in Digbeth will be lost – it’s a tragedy.”
Birmingham City Council has identified Digbeth as a creative quarter for the city, and most local residents are in favour of venues which they say enhance the character of the area and provide a space to nurture the much-vaunted creativity the council is striving for.
Too right, this whole thing is ridiculous. To threaten something that brings culture and colour to the ‘creative quarter’ on the strength of one complainant, rather than work constructively with the venue to tackle the issue, is just madness. Digbeth Slacker Midge agrees, calling the drama Fiddle and Bone Round 2:
It’s baffling that someone would buy a residence that was sold to them as being in a ‘vibrant city centre location’ and then bitch when they realise the vibrancy doesn’t work 9 to 5 hours!. Birmingham regulars will have seen this depressing tale unfold before in the late 90′s with Jazz/Blues live venue The Fiddle and Bone, unfortunately many letters to MP’s and the press came to nought and now that place now stands like some beer themed Marie Celeste. The Rainbow story could be more devastating as it sets a presidence for the whole of Digbeth’s future in The Big City Plan. Watch This Space!!.
Birmingham’s Twitter community was also very vocal in its support for the pub. Here’s a quick snapshot of some of the many tweets:
No, no, no. We can’t let this happen again. The Fiddle & Bone was an awesome venue and its loss (in my humble opinion) dramtically damaged the canalside life of Birmingham. I’m no lawyer…seriously…I’m not…but surely the fact that The Rainbow was there before these new developments has some sway in the matter? If I pitched up and bought a house next door to a thriving music venue I would expect noise. Isn’t it a case of buyer beware? We’ve all been very nice about this sort of thing before, but I reckon enough is enough. I want riots…marches…impromptu gigs outside the Council buildings…national press coverage…aggghhhh!!! On a more measured note…if we’re all as creative as we think we are we must be able to do something. Amongst the Twitterati out there aren’t there some legal bods who can help out? Can’t we just buy the guy who’s complaining some ear plugs?
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I once bought a cottage next to a busy road. Did that give me the right to have the traffic diverted?
This nonsense infuriates me. Time for a silent protest, perhaps, to show how dead Birmingham will be when idiots like this have sucked all the life out of it.
I have just escaped from those terrible Abacus apartments. I lived there for six months, and my apartment was directly opposite the Rainbow, so theoretically I should have got the worst of the noise.
Not once did I find the noise from the Rainbow (or the Spotted Dog, for that matter) to be bothersome, even though the Abacus building suffers from really shitty sound insulation. In fact, the noise pollution that kept me awake at night was all coming from inside the building itself. God knows how many corners were cut when building that dive.
They shouldn’t close down the Rainbow – they should close down the Abacus building.
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