the cops did the same about events at the White Horse, Silver Star and Carribean club but they still went ahead. most of the time the concerns are about having sufficient security, keeping blatant drug use out of the venue and ensuring that challenge 21 is adhered to, as well as any riskks from noise and anti-social behaviour.

I’d speak to both them and the venue manager separately – there may be reasons other than raves the cops have concerns, especially if other incidents have occured at the venue. Especially if the manager is young (20s to 40s) it may be the first “large-scale” event they have done at the venue (and some more cynical cops think its still the 90s when venue owners got paybacks from dealers!)

you will need to put up a good argument and ensure its a safe and friendly event, as because other seaside leisure activities are booming at the moment (families aren’t going to foreign holidays as much due to the recession) the authorities argue that “rave-type events” can cost the area more money than they make if they go tits up..

good to hear 🙂

its part of a standard risk assessment Suffolk constabulary are carrying do for the “night time economy” – the amount of trouble at some areas like Ipswich, Haverhill and Lowestoft (albeit from big commercial townie venues and knuckledragger thugs) has really got out of control and everyone from the old bill to Council and NHS are wanting it stopped as it wipes out all the money they make from license and taxes, as are decent local venue owners as it frightens people away from town.

In Haverhill the cops even said that older drinkers aged 18-40 were causing way more trouble than any teenagers on the streets…

All this is not just on the cops and councils own websites now but widely reported in the news..

So up to all of us who enjoy local crews events to prove once again they are less of a risk than standard townie stuff (which is why they were tolerated in the 90s…). Although my experience of recent events isn’t perfect compared to the “good old days” of the late 90s/early 00s they are still friendlier than most townie venues when its a crowd dedicated to the music in a non-mainstream venue.

I have never been out to anything in Ipswich town centre other than a dance music event as I simply do not feel safe (to be fair the real ale based pubs have a good reputation, but I live the other side of town). A lot of people especially those who are older than their teens feel the same so this IMO is lots of money and a boisterous but good natured crowd venue owners are missing out on.

the “friendly/fluffy” side of rave culture exists for a good reason..