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SHAPES FOUNDER CLAIMS VENUE CLOSURE DUE TO GENTRIFICATION NOT SEXUAL ASSAULT

Blames ulterior motives of local planning authority...

In a new report published by Thump, Shapes founder Seb Glover has claimed that the Hackney Wick venue was shut down by local authorities as part of plans to redevelop the area.

Shapes, which served as a music venue, studios for hire and community centre (even holding educational and creative programmes in local schools), was closed earlier this year following an alleged sexual assualt at a private party back in March.

The club was accused of interfering in the case by delaying the release of CCTV footage from the night — something Glover denies, stating he simply asked the police to fill out a form so he remained in compliance with the Data Protection Act.

Glover has now said that this was, in fact, just an excuse to push the venue into closure, with the real reason being the local planning authority, London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), wanting to build luxury flats on the premises in conjuction with the property owners, Groveworld. "We didn't fit into the LLDC's [development] plan," he says..

The LLDC argue that Shapes regularly broke the terms of its licence agreement by staying open later than it was allowed, however Glover also claims he was constantly given contradictory orders from different authorities, something he believes was purposefully done to make it difficult for Shapes to stay open.

Glover closes by revealing plans to re-open Shapes at another location in London and calls on the city's mayor, Sadiq Khan, to hold true to his promise of protecting club culture "and investigate the unethical actions of both his planning department and his police force in this matter."