A CAMPAIGN FOR YES

The loudest voices in Soho are

usually the ones demanding quiet.

In Soho, objections to licences arrive by the dozen, terraces close at ten, and world class venues a struggle. The people who chose to live in the liveliest square mile in London deserve a voice too.

A LETTER FROM

THE CAMPAIGN

We live in Soho. We love Soho. We chose this square mile, with streets with narrow footprints, crowded pavements, and evening openings, because of the life on them.

Soho works because people are out in it. A record shop leaves its door open and some jazz drifts onto the street. Cafes and bars put chairs outside and the tables fill, the way they do across half of Europe. Shops are small and run by people you come to know. Music venues are world-class. This is what makes Soho.

But we are up against a culture of no, be it requests for outdoor tables, a later licence, a bit of music. A small number of people, well organised and rarely challenged, hold far more sway over what Soho should be than their numbers warrant, while many people who live on these streets are barely heard.

A small number of people, well organised and rarely challenged, hold far more sway over what Soho should be than their numbers warrant.

It has led to some strange situations: new guidelines to stop “vertical drinking”, small businesses hit with intimidation for daring to expand or applying to stay open, a row over an outside dining which reached the Mayor’s office. It is time the rest of us did something about it.

Welcome to Soho Says Yes. Its mission is to bring together primarily the residents in favour of a vibrant entertainment district. There are more of us than you think. And it is also for the workers, the business owners, in particular the independents, and the supporters of Soho - many memories have been formed here over the years.

None of this means we want chaos. We are not asking for a free-for-all, and we have no interest in Soho as a drinking pit or a stag-night backdrop. A lively district and a badly run one are not the same thing. The difference is good management.

This is an old argument. Jane Jacobs called it 'eyes on the street': a pavement full of people who live and work there, who know the place and have a stake in it, is safer and better ordered than an empty one. Small footprints, homes and trades on the same street and regulars who invested in the place. That is what makes a district like ours work. People invested in the life of their neighbourhood look after it.

You’ve heard of the NIMBYs. We are the YIMBYs: Yes to music. Yes to tables. Yes to late. Yes to the street as a place where things happen. Yes to a Soho that is lively and well run. It stays the heart of a social London because the people who live here are willing to defend the life in it.

Live Soho, Love Soho.

What Soho Says Yes stands for

We are campaigning to keep Soho lively and open for business. This what "yes" means in practice.

1 Liveliness is the character. People who live here chose a busy, late and sociable place. That choice should count when our neighbourhood businesses go for planning or licensing. Currently the answer is too often a "no".

2 Back the good ones. Judged one by one on how a place is run and how it treats its neighbours — and backed where it supports a lively, well-run Soho. Especially local independents.

3 Tables, chairs and pavements. Outdoor dining, European style, benches and tables and chairs outside cafes, and what’s wrong with vertical drinking.

4 Give the streets back to people. Targeted pedestrianisation: taking the traffic out of the right streets is what makes room for the tables and chairs and allows people to enjoy the area.

5 Protect the music. Soho's music venues protected and respected so that the beat goes on.

6 A new neighbourhood society. For the YIMBYs: the people who want an organised voice making representations about Soho.

WHO WE ARE

The campaign team

Joy Lo Dico

A Soho resident since 2012, writer and journalist - she has been both a columnist for the Financial Times and editor of the Evening Standard's Londoner's Diary- and founder of The Trouble Club. She is the campaign's spokesperson, leading resident engagement, strategy and the political conversation.

Zara Shirwan

Running the campaign day-to-day, media, fundraising and strategy. A reputation and communications advisor for 20+ years, she has worked with companies, private clients and public figures in the UK and internationally. Her first office was on Old Compton Street, and she has never quite left Soho.

Behind them, part-time administrative assistance.

WHAT WILL THE NEW SOCIETY BE?

This is the part still to be written, and we would like you to write it. We want a new society to take shape, one that represents the many voices in Soho, but in particular the residents who appreciate it for what it is: a lively, personal place.

What that society looks like will be determined over the coming months but, in broad principles, it is positive and engaged.

It will be formed as its own organisation and we will looking for the people to run it: a Chair, a Treasurer, licensing and planning experts, and residents who simply want a hand in steering the direction of Soho. If that might be you, come and tell us — the society will be built and led by a broad coalition of locals.

SEND YOUR IDEAS

Contact: [email protected]

Soho Says Yes Limited | Company number 17450234 |

Registered in England & Wales. Soho Says Yes is a Company Limited by Guarantee.