New live music venue set to open in trendy Sheffield suburb

The Lughole, a not-for-profit, volunteer-run arts hub, originally opened on New Year’s Eve 2013 at a disused factory on Arundel Street.

But in 2017, the group behind the project said it faced being forced to leave the premises because of ‘licensing and safety issues’, and a crowdfunding appeal was launched to help support a relocation.

More than £10,000 has been donated online so far – and now Sheffield Council has approved planning permission for the new Lughole venue, practice rooms and private members’ club.

All are set to be created in part of an old joinery workshop and warehouse in Neepsend. The Lughole Collective, which will oversee the venture, previously said the place on Harvest Lane matched its ambitions.

“We have found the perfect vacant building that will be able to facilitate at least five practice spaces, a large area for live events and a licensed members’ club bar, enabling us to continue providing a safe and accessible space to support the underground music community here in Sheffield,” the group said last summer.

A 200-capacity space for gigs is planned.

In a report giving their decision, council officers admitted the proposed amount of off-street parking was ‘low’, but added: “On-street parking in the area is significantly lower in the evenings, and the site is in an accessible location, in close proximity to the city centre and public transport.”

Just one objection was lodged, from a neighbouring firm that expressed concerns about possible ‘drunken and antisocial behaviour’. The council said this would be a matter for the police.

Once a predominantly industrial quarter, Neepsend, next to Kelham Island, is changing fast.

Lughole will join the likes of Yellow Arch Studios, the Depot Bakery, Bring Me The Horizon frontman Oli Sykes’ ‘bar-cade’ Church, and Cutlery Works, one of the biggest food halls in the North.

“The proposal would facilitate business investment and make effective use of the existing, vacant building,” the council said.

Since January Lughole has been selling specially-designed T-shirts and dog-themed ‘punk pup’ calendars to raise extra money.