Once again it comes down to the old age battles of entertainment versus practicality; of small independent business versus council authorities. The recent potential closure of The Point is the latest example of this, with threats coming from the council after residents’ complaints about noise levels. Petitions were set up, protests were held. Campaigns were organised and the word was spread around the city to ‘Save The Point!’.
The hard work of The Point’s campaigners has paid off and the story ends happily, for those of us who crave entertainment and creativity, within Cardiff at least. The underdog has triumphed, with a proposal by the owners of the venue to install £50,000 worth of soundproofing equipment to bring to an end to residents’ complaints. The council has agreed to this, the battle in court is no longer required and everybody is happy, right? Perhaps not.
It is a huge achievement that The Point has managed to remain open. However, the fact that it was threatened with closure in the first place is a cause for concern. We nearly saw a part of Cardiff’s entertainment scene, once again, under threat. Surely part of what makes a city is its culture. Its artistic and music venues, no matter what genre, are included in this.
A city’s character and individuality is not formed through its mass influx of residents and housing constructions. Entertainment’s integrity should not have to suffer or come second to residents, who were surely aware of The Point’s existence when they moved in? Even if not, it’s not as if they continue the noise into the small hours of the morning. Throughout the week gigs tend to finish about 11pm, which is hardly a cause for complaint, really. As for the weekends, The Point can’t be creating much more noise than drunken clubbers and pub punters walking past throughout the entire evening. Or perhaps the Council will try to prevent that soon by banning specific areas of pavement after a certain time?
Cardiff prides itself on its diversity and the way that it caters for everyone and all kinds of tastes and needs. I have always agreed with this notion and have found that there is always something worthwhile, no matter what music you are into, with threats such as these this is in jeopardy.
Once you get past the arguments about entertainment, the attributes of The Point have to be considered. It is one of the few live music venues which really has character and a sense of charisma about it.
The venue, which used to be a church is much more spacious than venues like Barfly or Clwb Ifor Bach. The church building also makes it more distinguishable and unique than others in the UK.
The Point uses its facilities to its advantage. The sound carries well due to its high ceilings, the lighting is well staged and you can get so close to the bands that you can almost touch them, making it feel like a very intimate gig. The surroundings and decor are much in line with its ex-religious purpose, giving it a darker feel.
The Point has great line ups but is often neglected as it is situated outside of the city centre. However, making the trip down to the Bay gives the opportunity to go somewhere different than your usual drunken trek up and down Queen Street. There are also loads of pre-drinking venues which are nicer than many in town. The variety of people is different and the streets are much cleaner, allowing you to have a night out without trying to avoid discarded take-away boxes and vomit.
If threats like these continue, the city will no longer have anything that distinguishes it from any other. The Point is one of the few venues in Cardiff that is specific to the city alone. Too many national super-clubs are infiltrating UK cities, alongside all the high street shops make every city and town in the UK look the same. The closure of individual venues will only intensify this trend.
The possible shutdown of The Point demonstrated the increasing threat to small, local businesses. While they add individuality, they are vulnerable to pressure from authorities. They have no means to compete against large scale businesses and clubs such as Barfly which feature in various cities in the UK.
Luckily for The Point they triumphed and survived the threat which was posed against them. However, this is not the case for all businesses. Increasing threats from residents and councils may soon destroy the distinctiveness that cities benefit from, leading to a disaster for creativity and diversity for the United Kingdom.
