Salford’s Islington Mill’s “future in jeopardy once again” over nearby development

Islington Mill in Salford has shared that its future is “in jeopardy once again” due to nearby developments.

In an Instagram post shared last week (November 19), representatives from the music venue explained how Salford City Council’s recent approval of plans to build 90 affordable homes in the area is impacting them.

“It feels quite timely to be sharing what’s been going on at the Mill recently,” they wrote. “Many of you might have noticed, in the past couple of weeks, that the beloved Unit 2 has been demolished.

“It paves way for a scheme to build 90 affordable houses approved by Salford Council and whilst we do support the development of integral housing, we will continue to defend our existence in this neighbourhood!” they said.

The venue, which has been in operation for 26 years, previously raised concerns over the risk of potential noise complaints from future local residents. Music Venue Trust also wrote to the council urging them to take measures to prevent this, per Manchester Evening News.

“Despite voicing our concerns at a recent panel hearing, Salford City Council approved the go-ahead of this development,” they continued. “This puts our future as a music venue in jeopardy once again.”

The news follows a similar situation for London’s MOTH Club this week after a second wave of planning applications for flats close to the venue was shared.

Back in September, owners took to social media and called on local residents and fans to reach out to the borough’s planning department to contest a proposal for a new block of flats.

Then, earlier this week (November 21), they issued another statement, explaining how two more separate proposals have gone to Hackney Council which could put them at risk. According to the update, the move looks to develop a block of flats on Morning Lane – with one of the planned blocks having “balconies directly overlooking MOTH’s smoking area and back onto the stage wall”.

Prior to that, Manchester’s Night & Day venue – which was first saved after a hard-fought battle against a noise complaint back in 2014 – faced similar threats in 2021. This came after it received a notice from the council, which reportedly claimed that it was “a noise nuisance” to a resident who had moved into a nearby property during the lockdown.

Eventually, over 94,000 people signed a petition to remove the Noise Abatement Notice (NAN) – including Johnny Marr, New Order, Courteeners, Frank Turner, Mogwai and more – and it was ruled earlier this year that the venue could continue to operate.

Grassroots music venues already face a plethora of challenges and, in January, a report illustrated the full scale of the “disaster” that struck the UK’s grassroots music venues in 2023. Among the key findings was that 125 UK venues abandoned live music and that over half of them had shut entirely – including the legendary Moles in Bath.

Music Venue Trust has sought to solve the issue through their Own Our Venues campaign, which was announced as a success in 2023 after £2.3million was raised by the charity through a series of donations and investments. Dubbed “The National Trust, but for venues”, and backed by the likes of Ed Sheeran, it sees venues sign a “cultural lease” with Music Venue Properties (MVP) that guarantees that, as long as they operate as a space for grassroots live music for their local community, they can enjoy use of the building.

The Snug in Atherton was the first to be saved and protected by the scheme in October last year, followed by Preston’s The Ferret in May, The Bunkhouse in Swansea in September and, most recently, Dover’s The Booking Hall, which announced its purchase this week (November 27).