Punk venue wins planning permission: Lughole II to open in Kelham Island
A DIY punk venue forced to close in 2017 has gained planning permission to reopen in Kelham Island.
The second incarnation of the Lughole will feature rehearsal rooms, a 220-capacity performance space and a bar.
"It's a massive relief to win the planning battle but now the hard work starts in earnest," Paul Hubbard of the Lughole Collective told Now Then.
The new Lughole marks a new chapter for DIY music in Sheffield
"We ask people to share our story and aims to like-minded people, and where people can afford to we ask them to consider donating to the GoFundMe."
The venue needs to raise a further £20,000 to fit out the new space on Harvest Lane and apply for the necessary licenses.
Opening in 2013, the first Lughole on Arundel Street hosted bands including Hounds of Hate, Shrapnel and Paranoid State before it was forced to close for licensing reasons.
The venue also spawned a label, Kids Of The Lughole, which has released records by local groups like Nachthexen and Sievehead.
"The new Lughole marks a new chapter for DIY music in Sheffield, and we are trying to set it up in such a way that it will outlast us," said Hubbard.
"This really is about building a permanent, meaningful platform where creative people that are not looking for what the mainstream has to offer can feel at home, included and part of a community."
Supporters will guide the development of the new space, which Hubbard says will provide a "much needed home" for underground music.
"We are volunteer run and will be a members club, so we also offer our patrons the chance to have a real say in what kind of facility they want," he said.
"We hope that this in turn will give people in underrepresented and minority groups a chance to have an equal say, and in a place that they can do so free from judgement or intolerance."
Sam Gregory
