Plan to bring night life back to Parramatta and Sydney
It might hurt proud Sydneysiders but turning to Melbourne for advice could be the key to resuscitate our lacklustre night life.
Parramatta
Don't miss out on the headlines from Parramatta . Followed categories will be added to My News.
Restoring theatres and converting university and school halls to performance venues are part of a plan to help Parramatta and Sydney get its groove back and have a night life to match that of rival city, Melbourne.
Western Sydney Business Chamber has released “the most important document”, The Show Must Go On, and has called for the government to take action and get Australia’s largest city hopping, with The Roxy as a catalyst for the paper.
The document comes amid the lockout laws debate and has five recommendations, which the chamber’s executive director David Borger wants to help “bring the beat back”:
● Getting the state and local governments to prioritise performance infrastructure in their planning and development controls
● Pushing for state and local regulators to encourage a cluster of venues and theatres, allow later night trading and co-ordinating noise complaints
● Establishing a fund for private venues and emerging artists
● Getting the state and local government to undertake a census of performance venues across NSW to provide a snapshot of the industry’s state so gaps in infrastructure can be identified
● Encourage and incentivise universities to provide theatres and venues in their campus expansion and investment programs. Universities should be required to develop a cultural plan when they are seeking approval for the development of new campuses.
Such ideas were discussed at the Riverside Theatres today when local government and arts leaders discussed the lacklustre night life.
Chamber executive director David Borger said the trigger for the report was losing the Spanish-style The Roxy after the nightclub failed when it reopened last decade.
In June, David Kingston bought the 90-year-old Art Deco building, which he plans to covert to a pokies-backed pub.
During a panel discussion, experts including the report’s author, Sean Macken, outlined how Melbourne’s local and state governments invested in sport and culture and successfully revamped theatres such as the Palais in St Kilda.
Live Nation venue development vice president Mark Graham said it hosted 256 performances in Melbourne last year but just 121 in Sydney.
“We think the demand is there … but there is simply not the venues there to do it,’’ he said.
He recommended venues to house 750 people and others to accommodate between 3000 and 5000 so fledgling artists could perform.
“U2’S Bono didn’t just walk out in front of people and start playing. He went to a pub and club, then arenas, then stadiums,’’ he said.
He said an upgrade of more than $20 million at the Palais Theatre had bolstered the number of acts from 80 last year to 110 this year and would forecast to be 120 in 2020.
“You’ll soon see the benefits that comedy and live music provide to a city. It’s very important to our culture,’’ he said.
Mr Borger wants councils to be more supportive of entertainment.
“Unfortunately council has … stifled live entertainment,’’ he said.
“I think there is something wrong in NSW with the way we've supported or not supported venues.”
He cited Alex and Co at Church St, Parramatta, which he said encountering noise complaints when it hosted artist performances even though “people are happy to buy into business entertainment precincts’’.
“We see this city doubling in size in the last five years and the next five years,’’ he said.
“It’s doubling in size and halving in fun.”
Sydney Fringe Festival director Kerri Glasscock said it was “everybody’s right to have a good time’’.
“We have some of the best artists in the world,’’ she said.
“Apart from that we need to be able to have opportunities where we have fun. Sydney is a very difficult city to live it, it’s expensive … what is the point of that if we can’t got out and enjoy life? It’s the right of the people and it’s enjoy their interests.’’
Century Group executive director Greg Khoury said there was a cultural problem in NSW and the document was significant in an effort to advance the arts for education, health and wellbeing.
“This document is certainly the most important document written on the subject in the last 20 years or more,’’ he said.
The report’s author, Sean Macken, said the Enmore Theatre generated $140 million annually.
Mr Borger wants Parramatta to return to the glory days of entertainment including War and Peace nightclub at North Parramatta, Kicks at Parramatta Leagues Club and Stallions at Parramatta but also to focus on theatres.
“The lockout laws have made Sydney focus on what we’ve lost in the last decade in terms of entertainment and fun,’’ he said.
“In the ‘70s and ‘80s Parramatta was full of live music — they were all over the joint. The Albion Hotel still does a good job with live entertainment so they get a big tick.”
MC and Melbourne comedian Nazeem Hussain took jibes at Sydney, jokes that still showed how the city lags behind our southern rivals.
“We’ve got a small population but we sell the same amount of tickets which says you’ve got a limited sense of humour or limited infrastructure,’’ he said.
IN OTHER NEWS
