Pulling its final pint on December the 11th 2024 the Victoria Vaults has recently come under controversy over its plans for the future.
Hosting events ranging from poetry readings, goth discos and even having Bez from the happy Mondays over the years but the mourning still hasn’t stopped for customers.
It was proposed to become a community owned pub in December 2024 however this plan has been changed as plans to turn the long-standing pub into housing creating uproar from locals.
Many believe that the Vaults should stay as a music venue, with its location being close to the city centre it acted as an alternative to others such as the crescent and The Fulford Arms.
Another concern with the planned development is the historical value of the property with it being opened in 1939 being just short of being open for a century, locals have turned to social media to help raise awareness of this.
On an official objection sent in on the 2nd of October this year by Cllr Pete Kilbane highlighted the breaches of local plan policies D3 (cultural provision) and EC2 (loss of employment land).
Not only demonstrating the legal problems with this, he also acknowledged the importance of keeping this history alive and referred to it as a “crucial place for up-and-coming bands, smaller established bands, DJs and other performers”
This memo sent shows the councillors passion for the community and keeping the community spirit alive and has said that this planned development shows that the people who want to continue with this have “lack of appreciation for this venue’s value to the city and local community”
As of Friday the 29th of August 2025, the proposal has been validated for the conversion into 3 properties, however the final decision is still yet to be made there is due to be a consultation on this on Monday the 3rd of November.
