Tesco vs the Complex
Tesco last week received planning permission to open an outlet in the NAMA held building on Smithfield Square currently occupied by the Complex theatre and arts space. Franc Myles talks to Eadaoin O'Sullivan about the campaign to preserve one of the few remaining cultural spaces in the north inner city.
Last week, supermarket behemoth Tesco was granted planning permission to open an outlet in the units currently occupied by the Complex arts and theatre space in Smithfield.
The team behind the Complex will be appealing the planning decision to An Bord Pleanála, and have launched a campaign “to stop this juggernaut from making homeless a very vibrant, happening arts space.”
The units in the dormant building which house the venue were originally leased – for free - from Redquartz. When that company went bust last March the building was taken over by NAMA, who promptly issued an eviction notice. Artistic director Vanessa Fielding raised the issue of the notice with Arts Minister Jimmy Deenihan, who told her they wouldn’t be evicted – just yet anyway. Fielding has offered to pay a ‘cultural rate’ of rent of €2000 per month.
While NAMA is required to “protect, enhance and better realise the value of assets transferred to it” – to maximise the return on its holdings, in other words - commitments to cultural space under various city and area development plans (should) complicate matters.
As Joe Costello, Labour TD for Dublin Central pointed out in March in a Dáil debate on the closure of the Lighthouse Cinema, cultural commitments in the Smithfield development plan “never properly transpired and [the area] did not develop as envisaged.”
Below, Franc Myles of the Complex talks about the campaign to preserve what he describes as “a crucial factor in the fragile survival of the original intention to create a cultural quarter on the Northside.”
Where did the idea for the Complex come from?
The idea of having a permanent theatre/arts space in Smithfield came about in 2009, when people involved in the production of Anthony Goulding’s play Complexity saw the vacant spaces on Smithfield and approached the then owner for a cheap, short-term let, on the basis that there wasn’t much else happening on the ground floor in the development as a whole. Well, Fresh, the supermarket was there and the Lighthouse Cinema of course and there’s also Paddy Power’s. The development hadn’t delivered on its initial promise though, and many of the ground floor spaces were empty. They still are in fact.
The space suited the purpose for the type of open theatre the main protagonists are trying to bring to Dublin, where, as they say in theatre-land, the fourth wall is taken out and the audience are positioned in such a way that the play works around them. The idea of the Complex grew organically out of this, where the space obviously lent itself to this type of theatre. There’s nothing like it anywhere in Dublin.
Can you describe the process whereby you came to occupy the building?
After Complexity closed, the Complex entered into negotiations with the then owner, effectively the Kelly family under the name Redquartz, to acquire a lease and start paying rent.
The negotiations for the lease were somewhat unrequited insofar as they seemed quite happy to have us there but appeared reluctant to engage with us meaningfully when it came to the long run. Redquartz went bust back in March and the building, not just the loan, went to NAMA. The only communication we had from them came via their solicitors and this took the form of an eviction notice with seven days to comply! And this was just before the opening of a production of Rona Munro’s Iron. They pick their time.
When did you first hear that Tesco was seeking planning permission to open an outlet in your building? Given that there's already a supermarket on Smithfield Square, did Dublin City Council give you any rationale for rejecting objections to the development?
When you look at the planning file on the Dublin City Council website, you’ll see that Chris Kelly from Redquartz wrote a letter stating he’d no objection to the development. There were rumours on the go for a while that Tesco wanted to open up in Smithfield; they’ve been aggressively targeting local businesses and other supermarkets like Spar and Londis, and in this case Fresh. But it wasn’t really until they sent a few of the boys around with the measuring tapes that we saw they had the Complex in their sights. The fact that Tesco were involved wasn’t stated on the public planning notice, which was fairly innocuous as these things go. They actually lodged a second, almost identical application to hoodwink anyone who wanted to submit an objection to DCC. In this country this costs you €20 and if you haven’t made a submission in the first place, well, you can’t bring an appeal to An Bord Pleanála.
Was the building originally zoned for retail?
A few years previously the spaces had been rezoned to retail and restaurant and our presence here fulfills the original planning condition of the development that there be a set amount of square metres set aside for cultural use. DCC are therefore quite happy with our being there. We bring in over 500 people per week into the Complex, there’s stuff going on in the big windows, we’ve things going on at night… With the Lighthouse shut down, we’re the only thing with a pulse left at this end of Smithfield!
The Council planners don’t appear to have considered the existing presence of Fresh in Smithfield, but they didn’t take into account the views of the other objectors either as far as I can see.
Funnily enough, Tesco got a condition requesting them to put in writing their proposals to bring something to the table to support the original cultural zoning for Smithfield. I’ve heard the MD of Tesco in Ireland is a huge fan of Antonin Artaud, the French theorist of the ‘Theatre of Cruelty’. In August 1937 he actually walked past what was to become the Complex on his way down from Grangegorman. A local told me he stopped and dipped his walking stick into a pot of roadmenders’ tar and scrawled the word TESCAUX? on the door of a derelict house. Perhaps they’ll theme the shop in this direction? I dunno.
What happens now? Can people help (e.g. by writing letters/e-mails to you to put before an Bord Pleanála)? Have you had much support for your campaign so far? Have the local community come out in support of you?
Well, as of last week the development’s been appealed to An Bord Pleanála who will adjudicate the case as if it’s a new application. So they’ll consider the off-licence the City Council rejected. There’s hopefully going to be an Oral Hearing (where most of their cases are held in camera).
As I said before, if you didn’t pay your money to DCC, you can’t bring an appeal as such. You can help though. We’re asking anyone who’s ever been to a show in the Complex, whether you’ve loved it, hated it or were completely indifferent to it, to get in touch on Facebook or by email, as the opposition will try and make out that we’re only a ‘temporary’ occupant of the space and we’ll need to show we’ve been a crucial factor in the fragile survival of the original intention to create a cultural quarter on the Northside.
We’re still in the first week of the campaign and we’re starting to receive so many offers of help that we’re starting to get snowed under. We want to build up a sustainable campaign though and have it as inclusive as possible. The campaign obviously covers several bases: we’ve the locals involved who’ve gone to shows (many of the local kids have been involved) and have enjoyed the craic; the activist community are looking at the campaign against Tesco in Stokes Croft in Bristol and the wider notion of who actually owns this city; the arts community obviously don’t like the idea that a successful and innovative arts venue can be just shut down like that, because they might be next! People outside the immediate area are being very supportive. In Stoneybatter for example the locals have offered the full support of the community association and they’ve now linked up with people from the NCR and Phibsborough.
We’ll have a public meeting in Smithfield soon which will give people the opportunity to have their say. We’ll be inviting Tesco of course and a representative from NAMA too. I think it’s got a lot of people thinking about what’s actually going on in this town, which is already a successful outcome in itself, something the Complex can take some credit for.