A music collective has hailed a campaign victory for live music in Luton but warned the fight against a venue-threatening bedsit proposal may not be over, despite the withdrawal of a hated planning application.
Plans for a house of multiple occupation was submitted last month in the vacant former office building next door to The Castle in the town centre.
Vandalism Begins at Home – which runs a Luton record label, a weekly new-music podcast and promotes gigs at the venue which it calls its “spiritual home” – spearheaded a ‘Say No To The HMO’ campaign to get music lovers and members of the community to object to the proposals, with the final tally seeing 94 objections registered in just under two weeks, in comparison to zero responses in support.
The objections included a particularly damning response from Luton Council’s Environmental Protection team which said that the applicant had not addressed how it would mitigate against how noise from The Castle as well as tobacco smoke from patrons ‘could adversely impact’ on tenants.
After such a weight of public opinion, the application withdrawal decision was published on the Luton Council website and in response, Vandalism Begins at Home posted on social media: ‘HUGE NEWS! You stood up to #SayNoToTheHMO next to @TheCastleLive and the application for bedsits that could’ve threatened Luton’s only alternative live music venue has been WITHDRAWN. Will try to get more reaction for you but this news has just dropped. Thank you for your support’
The Castle posted on its Facebook page: ‘Well the application has been withdrawn! Thank you so much to every customer who put in an objection, your support means the world to every one of us 
We keep going with our mission to revive the music scene in Luton…’
However, despite hailing the successful action against the HMO plans, Vandalism Begins at Home has also warned it could just be round one to music lovers in the fight against development.
Ben Barry of VBAH said: “The withdrawal of the HMO application is a victory for live music and a victory for Luton. The town is full to the brim of poorly planned office buildings that have been converted into bedsits. We don’t need more, but we do need a thriving night-time economy.
“The Castle stands out as a beacon for what can be achieved with a DIY passion. We’re no longer going to settle for this external narrative of a downtrodden town. We have been unfairly maligned for too long, and we can’t even begin to change that if we allow outside influences to ruin the foundations that we already have.
“We need more places and more people to stand out and stand up for our town as defiantly as we have seen over the last few weeks.
“But we know that this could just be one battle won. The developers could come back with a changed plan. And if they do we’ll fight it again. The people of Luton and live music fans have said ‘no to the HMO’. We never back down and if we have to we’ll rally even more fiercely against anything else that threatens our spiritual home.”
Hot on the heels of hosting a charity gig at The Castle on Saturday, featuring Ali MacQueen, The Nimblewits and Feral Dogs, in aid of NOAH Enterprise’s work to tackle homelessness and support the vulnerable, Vandalism Begins at Home says that, for now, the withdrawal of the planning application is a cause for celebration.
James Cunliffe of VBAH said: “The number of objections that we saw in such a short space of time is a remarkable show of people power, that we are beyond grateful for. Every one of those objectors is a hero.
“We’ve known and championed for years that a beating heart and soul of creativity exists here and we know that Lutonians fight for what’s right. We always have done.
“Our moniker is a reflection of the attitudes towards our hometown, often from people that lived here when we were growing up.
“But the times are changing. From the football team to the music scene, Luton is changing for the better. We’re not alone in beating the drum for our home, but this victory is one small example of what we can achieve when Luton and Lutonians are united. The next one will be at Wembley on Saturday when the Hatters reach the promised land of the Premier League. Up the Hatters and up the Vandals!”
Vandalism Begins at Home Records will release their latest song ‘Off/On’ by Peachstone on Friday. You can pre-save the track here, and find out more about Vandalism Begins at Home at: vbah.co.uk.
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