Bankstown Sports’ Lady Banks Rooftop Bar seeks council approval for 2am closing time

Rooftop bar argues 150 outdoor guests between midnight to 2am won’t be disruptive for local residents, adding that it won’t have any lasers.

One of Bankstown’s newest venues is already outgrowing its opening hours with the owners looking to extend from midnight to 2am, seven days a week less than six months after its grand opening

Lady Banks Rooftop Bar sits on top of the new high-rise built by Bankstown Sports, Flinders Centre, which includes office space and retail space. It is currently allowed to open until 2am only on weekends.

The development application says it will minimise noise and light disruptions by switching off the outdoor speakers after midnight, limiting the outdoor section to 150 guests after midnight instead of the maximum 300 capacity, and asking patrons to “not generate excessive noise”. They have also stated they will not have lasers at the venue.

Outdoor view of Lady Banks rooftop bar during daylight hours, with no patrons seated.

Bankstown Sports already operates 24 hours a day, and generates some of the highest revenues of any club in the state.

In the 2020/21 financial year, the club turned over $115m in revenue, $87m of which was generated through gambling.

Lady Banks Rooftop does not have any poker machines.

Mark Condi, Bankstown Sports CEO, has said the Lady Banks Rooftop Bar is the epitome of the club’s vision to “bring what has historically been an inner-city experience to south-west Sydney”.

Mr Condi says, “Those hours are very common in the city. Lady Banks has been extremely well received in the local community, it’s just a minor variation so we can trade a little longer.

“Midnight is still early for some people, we think that 2am is more than reasonable for our community.”

Mr Condi says the CBD is struggling to get back to its normal self since the upheavals of Covid, and that people are more comfortable with coming to western Sydney instead.

“There’s equal or better service, it’s located closer and easier to get home.”

Mr Condi says the next move for Lady Banks is into larger events — including weddings — and expects to be finished its upgrades in two to three months.