New Gold Coast live music venue: council to approve beer garden

A popular southern Gold Coast hotel is about to get approval for amplified music in its beer garden — but it has sparked a debate about whether council can monitor sound levels.

The Kirra Beach Hotel beer garden on the southern Gold Coast.

A POPULAR southern Gold Coast hotel is about to get approval for amplified music in its beer garden — but it has sparked a debate about whether council can monitor sound levels.

Kirra Beach Hotel in Marine Parade at Coolangatta will be able to host guitarists in its outdoor area for extended hours after councillors at a planning committee meeting last week backed an officer’s recommendation.

Map showing the Kirra Beach Hotel site.

A majority of councillors at a full council meeting from 1pm today are expected to endorse the recommendation.

The hotel sought extended hours of operation with an extra hour to 10pm on Thursday to Sundays, and to host more patrons — an increase from 100 to 135.

Under the approved changes, amplified sound would be allowed between 10am and 8pm Sunday to Thursday and 10am to 9pm Friday and Saturday.

The council received 29 objections, mostly from residents in the high rise units neighbouring the hotel who voiced concerns about noise and scale of events being staged.

View of the Kirra Beach Hotel beer garden, subject of an application for extended hours with the Gold Coast City Council.

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A council report said the approved beer garden did not include any permanent structures and involved no building work.

“The area is primarily turfed and retains the existing landscaping and fencing on the site,” the council report said.

The hotel on the corner of Miles Street and Marine Parade was built in 1956, and until now amplified music was only allowed inside. The approval would not allow for live bands “but a guitarist singing”.

Council officers in recommending approval set sound limits and required the hotel to have a system which had a “sound limiting device” which “could not be bypassed by performers or patrons”.

Robina-based councillor Herman Vorster supported the application but he was concerned about council approving similar developments with complaint logs which were not enforced or struck out as unreasonable.

The Kirra Beach Hotel beer garden.

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He asked officers what changes had been made which would give confidence that the applicant could maintain the register.

An officer said it was “in their best interests” because the approval was only for two years, and if they returned for an extension any failure to use the complaints register would be considered.

“Sorry I think that is really wet. I don’t mean to be argumentative. I would remove that condition altogether,” Cr Vorster said.

“Quite frankly my experience tells me it is unenforceable and unreasonable and creates a heightened expectation in the community that council will be out there issuing show cause notices.”

But officers said the condition was one of several to manage the venue, and used with others would be “helpful”.

“I think we do right by the community if we condition developments which we can genuinely enforce. I’ve seen no evidence that this is enforceable,” Cr Vorster said.

Councillor Hermann Vorster — I’ve seen no evidence that this is enforceable. Photo by Richard Gosling.

But Acting Mayor Donna Gates, who was chairing the planning committee meeting, said the complaints register had worked in her northern division at a quarry where the vehicles were required to be numbered.

“It worked very well. I think what it does is give the community a great confidence that we are trying to deliver the best outcome possible for them,” she said.

“I have not had experience where officers have not been able to act on a complaint that has been registered. I’m not disputing that may be you have.”

Cr Vorster said the challenge for council was its ability to enforce or compel the hotel operator to maintain the register in the first place.

“Not on our ability to act on complaints that are in the register — because essentially we’re asking the potential culprit to collect the evidence against themselves with no real in my view any mechanism to make sure they are doing it,” he said.