The home of club nights including Rhythm Section faces an uncertain future.

Peckham pool hall-turned-club space Canavan’s has become the latest venue in the area to come under threat from property developers.

According to The Peckham Peculiar, plans have been submitted to redevelop the salvage yard and Victorian property next door to Canavans at 190 Rye Lane, and build 22 residential flats and a restaurant. The company responsible for the plans, 2Gee Developments, is proposing to sell 17 of the “high quality” apartments at market rate and the other five as “affordable housing”.

The windows of the flats will overlook a courtyard garden rather than Canavan’s, which architect Collado Collins believes “mitigates any acoustic issues”. However, Canavan’s owner Ciaran Canavan believes the redevelopment poses a threat to the future of his business, and has started an online petition to save the venue.

“While I work very closely with my neighbours to keep noise levels to a minimum it would be impossible with these 22 flats right beside where my music nights are held,” Canavan writes.

The news comes as a fresh blow to Peckham’s nightlife. Earlier this month a campaign successfully forced developers to rethink plans to build luxury apartments opposite the Bussey Building and Rye Wax venues, also on Rye Lane.

Canavan’s has become one of Peckham’s most beloved venues over the past few years, hosting regular nights like Rhythm Section and Gateway To Zen.

Rhythm Section’s Bradley Zero, who puts on nights twice monthly at the venue, told FACT: “We’re not against natural change [in Peckham], we don’t want to stand in the way of progress or organic growth, but we must also recognise what makes our community special and endeavour to protect these assets from the onslaught of commercially driven, short sighted and drastic change.”

“We are proud to play a key part in our neighbourhood, which is arguably the most dynamic and unique suburb in London. This appeal was built from the ground up, from a grassroots network of local residents, thinking global but acting local.

“Thanks to a number of initiatives at our own establishment and others in our neighbourhood, Peckham is now firmlay on the cultural map, globally. This latest phase of greed-driven developments aim to homogenise the special environment we have been a part of creating.”

FACT has also reached out to Canavan’s for comment.

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