Sydney pubs where patrons are banned from talking outdoors

First it was the state government’s controversial lock-out laws that killed Sydney’s pub scene. Now publicans are facing a new enemy — locals moving in next door to hotels — and complaining about the noise. POLL: TELL US WHAT YOU THINK

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Talking and having a good time are apparently now illegal in Sydney, as apartment dwellers are moving in and trying to move old pubs out.

A string of centuries-old pubs are battling noise complaints from people living in units that have been built around them and landlords are outraged they are the ones being forced to change.

Now many are appealing for the rest of the community to fight back against Numbies — the Not Under My Balcony inner city cousin of the Nimby — and the “nanny state”.

The 107-year-old Kings Cross Hotel has been ordered by Sydney City Council to close down its rooftop because residents who moved in to the neighbourhood two months ago have complained the pub is too noisy.

Belinda Humphreys, Andrew Anderson and Steph Hibbert enjoying a drink on the Kings Cross Hotel’s roof top terrace, which is in danger of being shut because of noise complaints. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

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The Omnia apartment building on Darlinghurst Rd in Potts Point is so close to the Kings Cross Hotel, The Sunday Telegraph could sit and watch a tenant walking around in his underwear.

Hospitality giant Solotel, which owns the Kings Cross Hotel, has refused to obey a 28-day rooftop trading ban, which was supposed to start two weeks ago, and has instead hired an army of lawyers and town planners to argue the fine print.

Complaints made by residents living next to their local pub

Solotel CEO Justine Baker claimed state planning laws don’t protect pubs.

“Our rights over the use of our wonderful old hotel cease to exist as soon as apartment opens next door,” she said.

Steph Hibbert from Randwick, who enjoys a drink in the sunshine on the Kings Cross Hotel rooftop, called residents’ complaints “completely insane”.

“If you move into an apartment so close to a pub, surely you would expect noise,” Ms Hibbert told The Sunday Telegraph.

Andrew Anderson from Lewisham, pointed out the longstanding Zenith Residences apartment building above the Coca Cola sign was similarly close as the new Omnia apartments, and couldn’t understand why the rooftop was suddenly an issue.

“The pub was here first and people would know what they’re buying into,” Mr Anderson said.

Solotel is also battling a neighbour of the 159-year-old Marlborough Hotel in Newtown, who wants its courtyard closed.

When the Royal Oak Hotel in Double Bay opened for business 145 years ago, the high-priced shopping and apartment strip was paddocks and drinkers would pull up outside on horse and cart for a cold beer.

Now Woollahra Council has ordered the Royal Oak Hotel to stop patrons drinking a beer on tables out the front unless they’re eating a meal at the same time, because of noise complaints from neighbouring apartment-dwellers.

Solotel, which owns the Kings Cross Hotel, has refused to obey a 28-day rooftop trading ban, instead hiring lawyers to fight it instead. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

A letter from Liberal Wentworth candidate Dave Sharma urging Woollahra Council general manager Gary James not to target the Royal Oak hotel couldn’t stop the ban on outdoor drinking, nor could the threat of blowback from regular patrons Malcolm Turnbull, Justin Langer and Brett Finch.

The Sunday Telegraph has seen a letter from Royal Oak Hotel publican Peter Tate calling on the community to fight the “nanny state” ban, warning if the same rule is applied to other licenced venues then the Double Bay “cosmopolitan village is dead”.

The Marlborough Hotel in King Street, Newtown is also fighting a challenge to have its courtyard closed. Picture: Damian Shaw

The Royal Oak Hotel. There's a bit of a buzz in Bay St, Double Bay with a few night time venues opening up.

The 89-year-old Moore Park View Hotel will soon build walls and a roof over its outdoor deck, so two residents in a neighbouring apartment building built five years ago don’t have to put up with patrons “speaking loudly and singing”.

When the Moore Park View Hotel was built, Waterloo was an industrial area and the most frequent customers were factory workers.

The Moore Park View Hotel will undergo renovations after two neighbours complained about patrons “speaking loudly and singing.”

“Everybody deserves a good night’s sleep but if you buy next to a pub, train line or Luna Park, you know there’ll be noise that you’ll have to live with,” Moore Park View Hotel owner John Doble said.

Australian Hotels Association (AHA) NSW Director of Liquor and Policing John Green is also disgusted.

“Generally speaking, the idea a person can move in next to a pub that’s been part of local culture since the 1800s and not only complain about noise, but actually have some success in changing longstanding practices which impact many people should be a joke, but sadly the reality is that it’s all too often true,” Mr Green said.

“People who should know better. They need to understand a pub is a pub.”

Originally published as Sydney pubs where patrons are banned from talking outdoors