Call for more venues to allow for cultural and economic growth in Western Sydney

Investment in performance venues across Western Sydney could be the key to unlocking a booming cultural night time economy worth billions of dollars.

Investment in performance venues in Western Sydney and the new city of Bradfield is the key to unlocking a booming cultural night time economy worth billions of dollars.

But at the moment business and community leaders say the west is neglected with just three theatres to service a population of 2.2 million people compared with 27 theatres in the east.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that spending in NSW on culture and recreation trailed far behind the other states. People in NSW put 5.6 per cent of their discretionary spending into culture and recreation compared with 12.9 per cent in Victoria and 9.6 per cent in Queensland.

Business Western Sydney executive director David Borger said that in Western Sydney part of the explanation for that is because there is actually nowhere to spend the money.

“There is the Dame Joan Sutherland theatre in Penrith, the Coliseum in Rooty Hill and the River Theatre at Parramatta to service a population of 2.2 million people,” he said.

Dominic Perrottet has promised to spend $160 million building a lyric theatre as part of the Riverside Theatres redevelopment in Parramatta, a 350 seat theatre in Campbelltown and a new cultural centre in Blacktown if he is re-elected . Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brendan Read

“We need more theatres in the west.”

The government has promised to spend $160 million building a lyric theatre as part of the Riverside Theatres redevelopment in Parramatta, a 350 seat theatre in Campbelltown and a new cultural centre in Blacktown if it is re-elected. It has also vowed to try and buy the currently shuttered Roxy Theatre.

“That is great but it is not enough,” Mr Borger said. “It does not even touch the surface of the inequality that is only increasing with our rapidly growing population.”

The City of Sydney estimates the night time economy to be worth $3.64 billion a year with more than 4,600 businesses employing more than 32,000 people. Mr Borger said investment could see Western Sydney rival that.

In a column in today’s The Daily Telegraph Western Sydney University Pro Vice Chancellor Andy Marks said Western Sydney had a thriving arts scene.

Dinusha Soo and Liza Moscatelli want more cultural spaces in Western Sydney. Picture: David Swift

“Most remarkably, this incredible artistic expression persists, despite profound inequities. Western Sydney received just on seven per cent of Create NSW funding in 2021-22, compared with 74 per cent channelled elsewhere in Sydney.”

Mr Marks said the new city of Bradfield is a chance to redress funding inequity. “More than that, it is an opportunity to bring technology and imagination together in a way that hasn’t been seen before,” he said.

Mick Gibb, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, called for small-scale cultural infrastructure to be developed in public spaces with sound and noise regulations muted to create more spaces for performance.

“Greenfield sites in Western Sydney are a golden opportunity to invest in small-scale cultural infrastructure in public spaces and embed night time activity into the planning system from the get-go,” he said.

Western Sydney University design student Dinusha Soo said the area needed more cultural institutions to reflect the diverse cultural background of its inhabitants.

“Western Sydney is often regarded as the underdog when it comes to the arts and creative scene,” she said.

Social science tutor Liza Moscatelli said she hoped future investment would create hubs that would “build a solid community of emerging creative and performing artists.”