The Imaginarium: Leeds music venue announces 'heart breaking' closure after complaints to city council
A Leeds music venue has announced it will cease operating after complaints to the city council.
The Imaginarium announced on Tuesday (July 22) that it would cease operating as a music venue at its current location on Church Walk as of this weekend.
The site, which also houses a record and plant store called Plant & Deck and runs community arts events, has said it is aiming to find a new space for music and club nights by early 2026.
The 120-capacity venue, which has been called “the hub of the Leeds underground music scene”, said that Leeds City Council had requested that it cease operating this week after receiving a complaint. A spokesperson said: “It is not even anything to do with licensing, noise, or any of that, which is the most frustrating thing.
“We had a similar battle on our hands last year, and we managed to be able to continue after a long and very costly process. This time, however, it looks like we do not stand much of a chance.”
Leeds City Council has responded saying that a retrospective planning application for the use of the site was refused earlier this year.
A spokesperson said: “The council continues to receive noise complaints associated with the premises, which are being investigated by our environmental health team.
“Given this is an active case, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
The Imaginarium said that the previous complaint was over a reported planning breach that was resolved with the council after “a very costly process to change the usage terms of our building”.
They said that “everything has been fine” since then but that they received a letter from the council this week.
A statement from the venue said: “Basically, we were given 14 days to either cease operating or restart the process we went through last year.
“If we were to continue, we would have to begin the process of trying to fight this, and it will be at huge cost to ourselves, and we are unlikely to come out of it with the result we want.”
They said that Plant & Deck will remain open and that they will continue operating various community events while they find a new venue space.
The venue announced the news on its social media pages, saying it was “absolutely gutted”. A statement said: “We have contacted all the promoters who work with us, and we are sorry for all the hassle this will cause everyone.
“It is a huge headache and quite heart breaking to have to go through this, and it has scuppered a lot of our plans for this year.”
They said that everyone who has paid a hire fee would be reimbursed and those who had booked events would be contacted.
Saturday (July 26) will see the final music event at the venue, which has been a popular spot for dance music nights since it opened in October 2022. The last night will be a collaborative event between Steandard Sleepers and resident DJs from The Imaginarium.
The statement read: “We can’t thank everyone enough who has supported us over the past two and a half years and helped make the space what it has been.
“We’re sorry as well about the impact that this will have on the city’s nightlife and underground music scene. We just feel like we’ve been backed into a corner and have no choice.”
For more information about The Imaginarium visit their website or follow them on Instagram.
A fundraising page has also been set up that aims to raise £5,000 to support the venue.