Boris Johnson Backs Plans To Replace Earls Court With Flats

We took a temporary break from reporting the countless venue closures of 2014 because it just got fucking depressing. Vibe Bar, Madame JoJos, The Joiners Arms, and The 12 Bar Club have all announced they're closing doors in the last few months. Now it has transpired that Boris Johnson has waved through the redevelopment of Earls Court. It will come as little surprise to anyone who has witnessed the London mayors relentless arse kissing of big business that Johnson supports a scheme to have the iconic venue destroyed to make way for a housing development; a development that will contain zero – that's right, zero – affordable houses. So, in short, TFL and a property investment company called Capco have decided to pull down one of London's few huge capacity venues that still has some character (something the O2 – a kind of shopping-centre-plus-stage – is severly lacking) and replace it with flats to flog to rich, barely resident Chinese/ Russians (they best hope the Rouble doesn't keep going tits up…)

Obviously this is a terrible idea for London's continued status as a culturally relevant force. Were the plans to build affordable housing, there might at least be some sort of moral dilemma at play – as it is, this is just a fucking joke. Having been at Redbull's Culture Clash in October, Ransom Note can attest that Earl's Court is an entirely viable venue, that has the added bonus of a sense of majestic history that is pretty much unquantifiable.

Should you have any interest in preserving London's increasingly threatened cultural existence we'd suggest you add your name to the petition to save Earl's Court. once it's gone it's gone, and the more 'luxury flats' that go up, the less chance there is of any new venues being allowed to open. This needs to be nipped in the bud.