‘Balmain needs new identity to help ailing night-life’: Solotel CEO Justine Baker
Over-regulation, lockouts, the need for the Balmain peninsula to develop its own identity and a call for Woolworths to broaden its product range and increase parking. These were some of the issues discussed at a packed-out Politics in the Pub event featuring prominent panellists at the Cricketers Arms Hotel
BALMAIN needs to define its new identity and local businesses need to offer more diversity to prevent the peninsula becoming a “monoculture”.
This is according to Justine Baker, CEO of hospitality giant Solotel, which owns several major venues in the inner west including the Marlborough, Bank and Courthouse hotels.
Ms Baker made the comments at a packed-out Politics in the Pub event at the Cricketers Arms Hotel in Balmain on Monday night.
The influential panel also included Grayndler federal Labor MP Anthony Albanese, Night Time Industries Association chair Mike Rodrigues, Cricketers Arms Hotel owner Tim Condon and Balmain/Rozelle Chamber of Commerce president Kate Moriarty.
Key discussion points included over-regulation, a lack of parking and a need for stakeholders to band together to better promote the area to attract more punters to the peninsula after dark.
Ms Baker said Balmain could learn from Newtown which had seen a spike in night-life activity following lockouts in Kings Cross and Darlinghurst.
“Newtown introduced the No Dickheads Policy which worked really well; it was community policing at its heart and we fought tooth and nail to get that through because they were threatening us with lockouts,” Ms Baker said.
“What Newtown has is huge diversity, you can walk down King St and there’s 18-60 year olds, it’s got music, entertainment, theatre, open bookshops, retail, big bars, small bars, you can go and get a burger and a beer or you can go and get Vietnamese.
“I think what starts to happen when businesses start to shut down is everyone goes for the safe option and that means everyone starts being the same.”
Ms Baker said the peninsula needed to define its culture and identity like Newtown had made the conscious effort to “keep Newtown weird and diverse”.
“I don’t think our (identity) can be: ‘We used to be great’, we have to get with the program, things change so we need to work out our new definition and then we can all work to that and be a bit more bold,” she said.
“We have got less diversity in our schools than we did five or ten years ago and we’re in danger of also becoming a monoculture.”
Inner West mayor Darcy Byrne, who convened the meeting, said the council was in discussions with Woolworths about the possibility of redeveloping its site which would increase the amount of parking for supermarket customers as well surrounding businesses.
Cr Byrne said credit card analysis had shown the Balmain supermarket was “vastly underperforming” compared to other similar stores.
“It showed the number of people who were leaving the peninsula to do their grocery shopping was way above normal and that has had a really damaging flow on effect for all of the local businesses on Darling St,” Cr Byrne said.
“The major obstacle has been that Woolworths recognise the store is so small and that has resulted in it having a very limited product range and the parking on site is totally inadequate and unsafe.”
Cr Byrne said there was a potential for council to contribute to a redevelopment through “several million dollars” of unexpended parking levies collected by the former Leichhardt Council.
“I’ve had a few meetings with them … and have asked them to come back with a clear answer about whether they’re going to put forward a proposal or not.
“I’ve made it clear that if they are just going to sit on the site and continue to allow it to have a limited product range and poor parking, that is going to result in ongoing disillusionment and angst in the community.”
Woolworths spokesman Jon Savell said they were always looking at ways to improve the shopping experience for customers.
“As a tenant of the building we have looked for opportunities to further improve the Balmain experience and this has included discussions with council and other stakeholders,” Mr Savell said.
“At this stage we have no current redevelopment plans for the store.”
A new Woolworths Metro will open next Wednesday, May 8 May, at the former About Life store.
Mr Condon agreed more diverse business offerings such as small bars was needed on the strip which was dominated by “homewares”.
He said over-regulation and noise complaints from neighbours was “stifling” enthusiasm, diversity and energy. He suggested it would also help to have more people living and working in Balmain.
“The real solution may lie in increasing the population on the peninsula,” Mr Condon said.
Mr Albanese said the NSW Government could take a leaf out of the book of the Andrews Government in Victoria which changed planning laws to recognised existing use.
“The Harold Park Hotel (in Forest Lodge) had to stop playing folk music on a Sunday afternoon because of complaints from new residents,” Mr Albanese said.
“In Victoria that doesn’t happen; if you buy next to a pub then you shouldn’t be surprised that there’s people in the pub.”
Mr Albanese said there had been a “revolution” in Marrickville where three new venues had opened, providing a boost to property prices.
He defined Balmain’s identity as “vibrant, active, diverse and with an exciting community that has a sense of being a village as well”.
“I think we need more live music and more events where people can come together and get that sense of community,” he said.
When asked what the area would look like in a decade, Chamber president Kate Moriarty said: “Diverse, vibrant, sustainable on its own and nurturing of the community and the village we all love.
“We can’t go back to what it was when it was more interesting and more weird but we can certainly create a new future that is still rich and vibrant,” she said.
Mr Rodrigues said the lockouts policy was like roundup in that it had “killed the weeds but also the flowering plants” at a time when Netflix and Ubereats was already making it too tempting for people to stay at home.
“What we are saying to international visitors is: ‘Please don’t come here, we are closed’.
“There’s over-regulation at both the state and local level … there’s seven departments regulating noise.”
He said Sydney needed a night time economy minister and punters also needed to get out and support night-life venues.
“We need a Minister of Fun if we want to have a fun city,” Mr Rodrigues said.
“Our enemy was lockout laws but our new enemy is apathy.”
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