Eutopia Warehouse in Creekmouth opened with a rave in June 2025 but was only granted planning permission last week, reports Nick Clark, Local Democracy Reporter
A warehouse nightclub in a Barking industrial estate has been given planning permission – more than a year after it first opened.
Eutopia Warehouse in Creekmouth opened with a rave in June 2025 and has since hosted several other parties and events.
Barking and Dagenham Council has now granted it planning permission to operate for up to five years. Council planning officers said: “The club positively contributes to the growth of the borough’s night-time economy.”
Eutopia Warehouse, at 42 River Road, can host up to 4,000 people across three “reclaimed” warehouses and an outdoor yard.
The site was last used by a freight shipping company but had been vacant for ten months prior to the club taking it over, according to documents submitted with its planning application.
The club opened with a launch event on 28th June 2025, but didn’t apply for planning permission until October. It subsequently withdrew this application in December and re-applied in February, and continued to host events.
Speaking in January, Will Paterson, director of Blackhorse Events Holdings which runs the venue, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) the company needed “more time to provide additional documents”.
A council spokesperson at the time told the LDRS it was aware of “intermittent club nights taking place at Eutopia Warehouse” and that it had opened a planning enforcement case.
However the council put enforcement proceedings on hold while Blackhorse Events prepared the documents required for its new planning application.
The spokesperson said: “The council’s usual approach is to encourage operators to regularise unauthorised uses through the submission of a planning application.
“Where an applicant is in active discussions with the council, the use would generally be allowed to continue while an application is prepared and determined.”
Planning officers approved the application retrospectively last Thursday (27th August).
They said the club makes “effective use of an otherwise abandoned warehouse”.
However they also decided to grant the planning permission on a temporary basis only, expiring on 27th August 2031.
They said this was so as not to hinder “the planned transformation of the area, or its future potential for commercial and industrial uses”.
They also said this would “limit the impact” of the club “on the operation of the public highway, the amenities of local residents and the area generally”.
Eutopia Warehouse says it can host up to 4,500 people across its three warehouses and outdoor yard. However the planning permission restricts it to a maximum capacity of 4,000 at any one time.
Promotional material says the largest warehouse can hold 1,200 people for a “high-energy club show, headline live set or immersive production”.
The two other warehouses can host 800 people each. One is “inspired by the golden age of New York club culture” and “the spirit of London’s most iconic venues”.
The other promises an “intimate” and “warm, versatile environment” including a cocktail bar and private karaoke booths.
Eutopia Warehouse’s outdoor yard can host 1,700 people, which it says “channels the energy of a street party”.
