Sydney residents fed up with lack of live as major overhaul of noise complaints process nears

Red tape is choking Sydney’s night-life with residents growing increasingly fed up with a lack of after-dark live music and arts events in their parts of the city, as the NSW Government edges closer to an overhaul of the rules surrounding noise complaints.

Red tape is choking NSW’s night-life with Sydney residents growing increasingly fed up with a lack of after-dark live music and arts events in their parts of the city, as the NSW Government edges closer to an overhaul of rules surrounding noise complaints against pubs and live music venues.

The latest figures from the NSW Department of Liquor and Gaming show the state has lost almost half of its live music venues in just 10 years, with only 155 still in business compared to 274 a decade ago.

New data from the Department of Customer Service, captured in a survey last month, also show how Sydney residents looking for a night out have grown fed up with a lack of night-life in their suburbs.

Outside of the CBD, just 23 per cent of respondents to the government-run survey felt they had good quality night-time entertainment options – like live music – in their area.

Just 18 per cent of respondents said they had good quality arts and cultural events in their area outside of the CBD available after dark.

The survey comes as the state government is believed to be close to completing a package of changes that will overhaul how noise complaints against pubs and live music venues are handled.

Baz Compton, secretary manager of Leichhardt Bowling Club, said the ordeal was a “dog’s breakfast”. Picture: Adam Yip

The issue was something Labor campaigned on during the election ahead of appointing John Graham as the first ever minister for music and the night-time economy.

“We know we need to change the rules to bring music back across the state,” Mr Graham told The Telegraph.

“I’m talking to five or six of the best venues across the state who don’t want to join the hundreds of venues which have been forced to shut their stages due to over regulation and red tape.”

The death of live music venues is a blow to the genre of Aussie pub rock, with seminal bands such as AC/DC, Midnight Oil, INXS and The Angels all getting their early breaks on the local music scene before blowing up into international acts.

A parliamentary inquiry in 2018, pre-dating the Covid-19 pandemic, analysed the decline in live music venues, with Minister Graham saying it was a long-term issue.

Baz Compton has tried to bring more live music to the outdoors part of the venue. Picture: Adam Yip

Leichhardt Bowling and Recreation Club secretary manager Baz Compton said current regulations governing operating hours and live music was a “dog’s breakfast”.

Two and a half years ago the club transformed one of their bowling greens into an outdoor dining and entertainment space, but he said increasing the amount of live music at the venue remained a challenge.

He said local authorities like the Inner West Council and Liquor and Gaming were “good to work with” but the organisations “don’t speak to each other”, leaving a dizzying trail of red tape and paperwork for “small punters” like themselves to wade through.

“I’ve tried to figure out how I can get more live music in my outdoor areas – coppers send you to council, council sends you to Environmental Protection Agency – it just leaves you scratching your head on where to start,” he said.