Camden Council agreed on 14th December to go out to public consultation on a “planning brief” for Camden Town Underground Station.There are just six weeks to respond to that consultation, which closes on the 16th February.
As recently as 2005 Transport for London’s previous propsals to demolish The Electric Ballroom, Buck Street Market and all the other buildings in the triangle to the north of the current station were defeated.
Kate Fuller of The Electric Ballroom says:
“I am very concerned that the Camden Council Planning Brief is a back door route to giving the TFL the cCouncil policy it needs to come back and force through a new but fundamentally similar development scheme.
We recognise the need to improve the Tube Station to ease congestion, but TfL’s ideas for the site would change the nature of the heart of Camden Town and actually reduce the number of people.
Camden Town doesn’t need a bland arcade-style shopping mall above it’s tube station. It is a unique place that needs to retain it’s character.My family has run the Electric Ballroom since the 1930’s. We have just refurbished the Ballroom, investing a large sum of money in upgrading the venue. We will be improving the facade and exterior of the building in the New Year. We do not want our premises demolished and our business displaced from the heart of Camden Town to make way for a shopping mall.
My family has run the Electric Ballroom since the 1930’s. We have just refurbished the Ballroom, investing a large sum of money in upgrading the venue. We will be improving the facade and exterior of the building in the New Year. We do not want our premises demolished and our business displaced from the heart of Camden Town to make way for a shopping mall.I hope you will respond to the Camden Council consultation and let them know that demolition of the Electric Ballroom, Buck Street Market and the other buildings on the site is unacceptable.”Here’s what you can do to save the Electric Ballroom:
1) Send your views on the future of the site to david.morrissey@camden.gov.uk at Camden Council, with the subject line ‘Response to Camden Town Tube Station Planning Brief Consultation’ with copies to the 3 local ward councillors: patricia.callaghan@camden.gov.uk; libby.campbell@camden.gov.uk; chris.naylor@camden.gov.uk. Please include your name & home address in the email.2) Respond to Camden’s consultation online at: www.camden.gov.uk/consults
3) go to the Electric Ballroom website and sign their online petition http://www.electric-ballroom.co.uk/save.html
go to the Electric Ballroom website and sign their online petition
Although the band will be touring as part of the NME Indie Rave Tour in February, Klaxons have now unveiled headline shows of their own.
February Tour Dates:
3rd - Dublin Ambassador
4th - Belfast Mandella Hall
6th - Glasgow ABC 
7th - Leeds Met Uni
8th - Newcastle Uni
11th - Cardiff Solus (Uni)
12th - Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall
13th - Oxford Brookes Uni
14th - Bristol Anson Rooms
16th - Liverpool Academy
17th - Manchester Academy
18th - Sheffield Plug
20th - Portsmouth Pyramids
21st - Cambridge Junction
22nd - London Hammersmith Apollo (Sold Out)
Here at StopTout.com we fully back The Save the Astoria campaign. A new petition has been set up by students Sarah Tennant and Jade Dickinson to save the legendry rock venue from the bulldozers.
The building, which has hosted Legendry acts such as The Rolling Stones, Nirvana, Oasis and Blur, has been sold for £23.75 million by Compco Holdings to Derwent Valley.
The 2,000-capacity venue is understood to be on lease to music promoter Mean Fiddler until December 2008. Christine Gorham of Live Nation, which owns Mean Fiddler, said the company was powerless to prevent a redevelopment of the site.
SavetheAstoria.org has already had over 26 thousand signatures on its petition and thousands of music fans are voting for it to be crowned best music venue in the Vodafone music awards.
Personally speaking the Astoria is one of my favourite venues and no other venue of its size can
compare for atmosphere and access. I can remember seeing Muse play there with Coldplay supporting, a nervous looking Chris Martin entered the stage apologising for taking up everyone’s time whilst waiting for Muse, I remember thinking ‘this band are way too polite to ever be successful’. Another legendry week was when Blur had a five-night residency, seeing the likes of Damen Alban and Phil Daniels in such an intimate venue was truly unforgettable.
StopTout.com is encouraging it’s members to join the campaign and sign the petition. Members can do so by visiting www.savetheastoria.org
