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Aberdeen neighbours fear earlier opening at Nox might mean ‘even more vomiting and urinating revellers’

The owners are seeking to make a slew of changes, with adjusted opening hours and bar meals.

Nox Aberdeen neighbours are unhappy about potential licence changes.
Busy Justice Mill Lane is packed with noisy revellers at the weekends. Image: Ben Hendry/DC Thomson.

Neighbours are battling to stop an Aberdeen nightclub opening up earlier – fearing a rise in “intolerable” drunken antics.

Nox, on Justice Mill Lane, wants to extend its hours to offer punters an earlier start.

There are fears it could mean the venue going from a weekend hotspot to opening up seven-days-a-week.

Frazzled residents say they already put up with a lot living there, with other popular venues such as Motif and Soul also in the area.

One Aberdeen neighbour even voiced fears that longer hours at Nox will result in “even more vomiting and urinating on the street”.

Nox is currently closed for a refurbishment, but due to reopen soon. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

What are the Nox plans?

The Signature Group, which owns the club, appear keen to turn Nox into more of a traditional pub than just a late-night haunt.

Papers submitted to Aberdeen City Council request permission to open up from 11am from Sunday to Thursday, and from noon on Friday and Saturday.

They also want to start selling bar meals, hosting receptions or club meetings, add outdoor drinking facilities and show live sport.

Nox is often surrounded by clubbers eager to enjoy a night on the town. Image: Ben Hendry/DC Thomson

And Signature wants to “add indoor/outdoor sports as an activity within and outwith core hours”.

They want a licence to host table tennis, charity nights, quiz nights, magicians, auctions, wine/beer tastings, cabaret shows and electronic darts.

What do Aberdeen neighbours think of the Nox plans?

Eight objections have been lodged urging the council to refuse the plans.

One neighbour worries that “drunken individuals will consume even more alcohol, which will result in even more vomiting and urinating in the streets”.

Nox neighbours are unhappy about life next to the Aberdeen venue
Nox on Justice Mill Lane was previously the home of the Holburn Free Church. Image: Heather Fowlie/DC Thomson

Worrying about the risk of daytime drinking, one concerned parent wrote: “I do not want my children to have to deal with drunk persons when coming home from the cinema or a friend’s house.

“People urinate in the street and tip bins over.”

Loud dance music means neighbour can’t get no sleep

Another accuses punters of departing Nox only to “enter people’s gardens to urinate”, with life on the street becoming “intolerable”.

They add: “Two of the bedrooms in my house face directly on to Nox, less than 20 yards away.

“When the venue is open, they are unable to be used because of excessive noise.”

Nox has become a staple of many big nights out, but its Aberdeen neighbours say it can make their weekends a misery. Image: Colin Rennie/DC Thomson

And a Strawberry Bank Parade resident said they are often woken up, and fears the worst if the change is granted.

Their objection states: “On several occasions they urinate and vomit in our
development and also damage cars.

“This will become worse if their applications are granted.”

A short distance away, Signature wants to enact similar changes in place at its Spiritualist venue but are facing a similar quarrel with locals.

Why might owners be keen to make changes?

The hospitality industry has been hit hard by the double whammy of the pandemic and cost of living crisis in recent years.

Last summer, Signature management told us about the challenges posed by “eye watering” costs increases.

They said “student-friendly venues” like theirs were especially hit by inflation making it “increasingly difficult for students to put cash aside for a night out”.

The Spiritualist, on Langstane Place, Aberdeen. Image: DC Thomson

Signature said it was “having to chase every sale and every customer to try and make our business efficient”.

And earlier this year, Aberdeen’s Atik nightclub took the unusual step of closing over the summer months.


Do you think the plans should be approved? Let us know in our comments section below


Nox doing what it can to keep revellers quiet

Councillors will discuss the Nox and Spiritualist applications, and complaints from their Aberdeen neighbours, at a meeting on Tuesday.

The plans come after Nox took unusual measures to keep customers quiet earlier this year…

Louise Maclean, business development director with Signature, said the business always tries to “listen and find a practical solution”.

Ice lollies were handed out to boisterous punters. Image: Alastair Gossip/DC Thomson

With that in mind, bosses started handing out ice lollies to punters in the hopes of keeping them quiet as they made their way out into the night. Read more here.

Meanwhile, nearby, developers want to transform the former Budz Bar into a £2 million mecca of entertainment:

Conversation