Iconic Soho venue Madam Jojo’s has been closed as part of Soho redevelopment plans
Westminster council revoked the club’s license this week, while Soho Estates’ plan for the area was approved in December 2013
It has been seen by many as the final death rattle of Soho, the closure of a venue that hosted some of London’s most bizarre and offbeat nightlife for more than half a century.
But it has emerged that the fate of legendary club Madame Jojo’s had already been decided many months before Westminster council revoked its license this week after a violent incident – in a move that was condemned by many as draconian.
Plans submitted to Westminster council in September 2013 by Soho Estates, which owns the premises, show the venue was already among the buildings intended to be demolished and redeveloped in Soho’s Walker’s Court and Brewer Street in the next few years. In December last year the plans were approved by the council.
Westminster council stands by its statement that the club’s license was revoked solely due to an incident at the club, in which security staff assaulted a member of public with baseball bats.
However, supporters of Madame Jojo’s point out the timing of closure is fortunate for Soho Estates, as the company’s redevelopment plans are scheduled to begin next year, and say it is symptomatic of the “wave of devastating blandification of the area”.
The closure of the legendary Soho haunt has already prompted a Save Madame Jojo’s petition, which has more than 6,000 signatures, and a vigil is planned for Saturday afternoon outside the club to pay tribute to what the organizers are calling “a mecca for young pioneers, romantics and bohemians and a proud center of subculture”.
Nude lap dancing application rejected by councilors
La Salsa on Silver Street, Halifax, requested Calderdale Council’s Licensing Committee lift a condition on the club’s license requiring its dancers to “wear a non-transparent G-string or similar piece of clothing on the appropriate part of the body” at all times.
Reza Shasavar, owner of La Salsa, told the board that he is applying for the amendment to the rules to avoid complaints and confrontations from men who feel the dance didn’t go far enough.
He said the business case was clear, and his club is unable to compete with lap dancing clubs in Leeds and Manchester which allow nude performers.
Objections based on moral grounds were raised by Angela Eddison, director of the women’s centre on Silver Street, Halifax.
The board was advised that moral factors could not be taken into account when making its decision.
The case resulted with the application rejection by five votes to four.
A new strip club called Paradise opens doors in the gay area of Liverpool despite the opposition faced from LGBTI locals
A new lap-dancing club in the heart of Liverpool’s gay quarter has been open despite the concerns raised by local LGBTI residents and businesses.
Local campaigners were claiming that the new club, called Paradise, could lead to a rise in homophobic hate crimes in the Stanley Street area, with fears that all-male stag parties could clash with locals.
Lawyers acting on behalf of the club rejected the arguments put forth by campaigners, saying the council would not oppose a gay club being built in a straight area.
Liam Scully, the director for Paradise, has rejected the claims that the club was only for straight people.
Stanley Street was officially designated as Liverpool’s gay quarter in August 2011, with rainbow street signs being installed in November that year – becoming the first British city to do so.
A district judge has upheld a decision to revoke Victoria Hay’s license after police swooped earlier this year. The venue has been refused the possibility to reopen.
Private dancing at the Flying Scotsman definitively confirmed for after Christmas
Private dancing at the Flying Scotsman definitively confirmed for after Christmas. One fears for the delicate ecosystem of the Flying Scotsman lovingly preserved all these years, like a fly in amber (or a fly in my beer, I don’t want any more of those), or the Great Hole in The Lost World’s Venezuela.
One wonders if they will attract some decent looking girls from other pubs once it begins, though it was good to hear the pub do not want the “plastic girls” that disfigure the other places.
The pub also will not be making everyone in the pub pay a pound, even on the TV side, another mooted idea, as they will lose all their regular customers who keep the bar propped up.
Author: Saxon
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