MPs want UK nightclubs given same protection as theatres

Nightclubs, grassroots music venues and LGBTQ+ spaces should be recognised as cultural heritage and given protections comparable to theatres, MPs have said.

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s report on protecting built heritage, published on Monday (13 July), recommends the government put in place processes for identifying and protecting buildings with high cultural and social value alongside architectural significance, naming nightclubs, music venues and activist spaces where strong cultural significance can be demonstrated.

Witnesses told the inquiry that grassroots venues should be treated as essential cultural infrastructure, including being granted statutory consultee roles, which would require local planning authorities to consult them on relevant development proposals. Theatres already hold such protections.

Michael Kill, Chief Executive of the Night Time Industries Association, told MPs that clubs, LGBTQ+ spaces and grassroots music venues had fewer protections than they should have despite being “living archives” across generations of social and musical history. He described current funding mechanisms for such venues as “limited and inaccessible”.

The committee found that existing heritage frameworks focus too heavily on architectural significance, with insufficient recognition of social and community value.

High Street Story, a campaign group, said in written evidence that the listed building regime was “targeted at preserving the built environment” but had “no bearing on the occupants of the building”, meaning culturally significant venues can fall outside protection frameworks entirely.

Academic evidence submitted to the inquiry pointed to barriers to inclusion within existing heritage models, warning that prioritising tourism over community needs could exclude minority groups.

Witnesses also said intangible heritage, including traditions, community memory and collective identity, was undervalued in the listing system despite being central to how many communities experience heritage.

MPs concluded that without a broader definition of ‘heritage’, important aspects of the UK’s cultural life risk being overlooked or lost.

The recommendation forms part of a wider report covering heritage funding, the planning system and workforce shortages, which also calls for a reuse-first approach to converting vacant historic buildings into housing.

The government is expected to respond to the report within two months.

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