#WeAreTheBlackCap protest outside the Black Cap on Camden High St, April 18 2015
The Black Cap’s council protection hangs in the balance this week as the venue’s owners try to overturn its asset of community value status.
At a hearing held this morning at Camden Town Hall, campaigners defended the importance of the iconic LGBTQ pub and cabaret venue, which was one of London’s longest-running queer spaces until its sudden closure in April.
Asset of community value (or ACV) status recognises a venue’s significance to the local community, restricts changes of use to the space, and gives the community the option to make a bid if the site is put up for sale.
Following an application by Camden LGBT Forum, ACV status was awarded to the Black Cap in April, just four days before its owners closed it without notice, sparking protests.
Thanks in part to the ACV status, attempts to sell the venue and reopen the space in another guise have so far stalled.
When granting the status, Camden Council noted that the Cap “has had iconic status for Camden’s gay community since the 1960s”; “plays an important cultural role as a renowned venue for drag and cabaret performances”; and “plays the role of a community centre for the local LGBT community in the absence of such a dedicated facility”.
But last month, the site’s owner, Kicking Horse Limited, and operator, Faucet Inn Limited, asked the council to overturn the pub’s ACV status.
If they succeed, they will find it much easier to complete a sale and reopen the venue as another kind of business, or redevelop the site themselves.
They are also appealing against the council’s rejection in February of plans to convert the pub’s upper floors into flats. One councillor said this would result in the “death” of the Black Cap.
The owners argue that because Camden LGBT Forum receives council funds, it shouldn’t be allowed to ask the council to grant ACV status to any venue.
They also claim that the first-floor Shufflewick Bar – which was used by people and groups who preferred a quieter space to the ground-floor cabaret bar – didn’t contribute to “the social wellbeing of the community”.
The owners say that they would accept ACV status if it were restricted to the basement and ground floor. This would make it easier to convert the upper floors into flats.
At this morning’s hearing, Camden LGBT Forum director Nigel Harris spoke alongside Ben Giddins – aka Meth, a regular performer at the Black Cap and the venue’s events producer – and Joe Parslow, a producer of shows at the pub.
Other supporters came to show support outside the closed hearing.
“We remain hopeful that ACV status will be upheld,” Harris said. “We gave it a good challenge even though we’re up against expensive legal firms.”
Harris believes the stakes are high: “I fear for the Cap’s future if the ACV isn’t upheld as they’re clearly attempting to rehash their old attempts to redevelop the site.”
Despite signing a contract of sale with Camden Securities LLP in December 2014, Kicking Horse remains the site’s legal owner. Camden Securities appeared to have reached an agreement with café chain The Breakfast Club to move into the space but if Kicking Horse’s sale to Camden Securities falls through, that agreement presumably becomes moot.
The Breakfast Club has come under fire over the prospective deal all the same, including criticism that the £7 million company’s description of itself as “small” is disingenuous. Its owners released a statement defending their actions.
Following the Black Cap’s closure, it was squatted by a group including former patrons of the pub. After several weeks and a couple of parties, they were eventually ejected on the basis of a court order.
Kicking Horse succeeded once before in overturning ACV status for the Black Cap. It was first granted in 2013 but there turned out to have been procedural inaccuracies in that initial submission, which was one of the first dealt with by Camden Council since the introduction of ACV in 2011. That application was not made by Camden LGBT Forum.
The result of the ACV hearing is expected later this week.
