Friend of Prince Harry vows to re-open Chelsea nightclub Public

Club closed after complaints from residents
Pic: Dave Benett
Michael Pooler16 May 2012

Guy Pelly today vowed to re-open his nightclub Public in another part of London as he hit out at killjoy Chelsea residents who pushed for it to be closed down.

The nightclub impresario, a close friend of Prince William, said he was “saddened” at having to close the venue after complaints from residents.

Mr Pelly and his two co-owners took the decision to shut the club in King’s Road after they failed to overturn a decision by Kensington and Chelsea council to reduce its opening hours.

Neighbours had complained about clubgoers fighting, urinating, vomiting and having sex in the streets, with police labelling the club the borough’s “No 1 crime generator”. Mr Pelly, 30, said he had “tried so hard” to address neighbours’ concerns, including hiring an expensive security team and changing the queuing system.

But he said: “We changed so many things but as soon as people smelled blood they would not compromise at all, they wanted me gone and that was it. It was not really the council, I would say it was certain residents. I would have meetings with them, they would say ‘fix this’ and I would go and fix it and then another big problem would occur. When I had to stand there in front of 50 staff and tell them, there were tears and there was this heightened sense of sadness.”

Mr Pelly, who lives in Notting Hill, said he would not be “moping about” after the loss of his business. He said: “There is a very strong brand and with this team we are looking to see whether we can take the brand somewhere else. I think I would try and do it in another part of London.”

Public lost its legal challenge at Hammersmith magistrates’ court yesterday. Kensington and Chelsea council said it hoped the decision would send a “clear message to all operators in the borough that we will seek to defend our residents”.

Paul Smith, 30, who lives opposite the venue in Telcott Street, said today: “A lot of residents were unhappy. The bottom line is that hard working people don’t want to hear a bunch of Made in Chelsea types running around with mummy and daddy’s money at night.”

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