Todmorden’s Golden Lion faces uncertain future after noise complaints

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Music

Todmorden’s Golden Lion is asking people to write to Calderdale Council after a sudden run of noise complaints has put its late licence under pressure.

The venue – a pub, music space and community hub on Fielden Square that’s been operating since 2015 – has received multiple complaints in the past three weeks. Owner Matthanee ‘Gig’ Nilavongse on a post on instagram says nothing has changed: same sound system, same setup, no complaints since before Covid. The complaints, in Gig’s view, are targeted and malicious.

Calderdale Council hasn’t moved to revoke the licence yet, but has asked for volume reductions – something Gig says has already been done significantly. The concern is where that trajectory leads. Without a late licence, the nights that have made the Golden Lion what it is – upcoming bookings include Surgeon b2b Dan Bean, Dresden, Zed Bias, and Juan Maclean – become impossible to sustain.

Luke Cowdrey, Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard and other industry figures are among those who have voiced support, with many offering to help fight the complaints.

It’s a familiar story. It echoes the situation Manchester’s Night & Day Café faced several years ago – noise complaints from a single nearby resident pushing a long-standing venue to the brink. The structural issue – that Agent of Change protections still aren’t legally enforceable in England – remains unresolved, leaving venues to fight these battles individually every time.

Gig’s position is straightforward: “The show must go on. I’m not back down until the door is close.”

If you want to help keep it open, write to Calderdale Council at stuart.frary@calderdale.gov.uk and helen.nicholl@calderdale.gov.uk.