City of Sydney council plan for 24-hour city set to go ahead despite NIMBY concern

The City of Sydney will forge ahead with plans to revolutionise our CBD with a 24-hour entertainment plan as it dismisses objections from precious NIMBYs.

• How council kiboshed complaints about nightlife revival

The City of Sydney will forge ahead with plans to revolutionise our CBD with a 24-hour entertainment plan, as it smacks down objections from precious NIMBYs over fears the sound of poker machines, live music and wine glasses clicking will drive them mad.

The council received hundreds of submissions to its plan for special entertainment precincts to be rolled out across the city, including claims residents of “noisy” Sydney were being drowned out by “dogs barking and cars hooning”.

The City of Sydney has smacked down NIMBY concerns around its vision for a 24-hour entertainment precinct in the CBD Picture: Damian Shaw

Residents argued the CBD was already overrun with too much noise “with people screaming, yelling, playing loud music on their phones outside residences”, while another argued it was “important not to create (turn) areas into late night trading areas when people need to sleep.”

Yet another NIMBY said they were “of the belief that the encouragement of high concentrations of late night venues within any given area is a planning failure”.

Despite the barrage of complaints over the vision for the future of the Harbour City, council planners have called for councillors to greenlight the rollout of new Special Entertainment Precincts stretching from Circular Quay to Central Station, and from Darling Harbour to Hyde Park.

The City of Sydney council has a map of proposed entertainment precincts to support the 24-hour economy with late night bars and live music zones.

The new precincts will allow live entertainment-based venues to open as late as 2am without any changes to their licence with council.

Those venues will also be able to apply for a 24-hour licence under the changes.

Live music jazz bars and hole-in-the-wall cocktail spots, crippled by lockout laws and the Covid-19 pandemic, are set to be reinvigorated by the City of Sydney Council’s vision for a city that never sleeps.

Sydney mayor Clover Moore said the plans had the potential to boost the city’s night-life offering, “in response to the challenging hospitality environment”.

“We all want a night-life we can be proud of and that our global city deserves,” Cr Moore said. “We have worked hard to create the environment where our night-life thrives, and the city remains a great place to live.”

The mayor said more than 70 per cent of submissions supported the plans, with night-life growth and diversity, as well as more flexibility for venues.

“By not simply designating one or two streets but entire precincts we have already proven can support this kind of activity, we’re hoping to apply the benefits to as many areas and businesses as possible while avoiding the safety and economic impacts of saturation.

“By making it cheaper and easier to operate a venue, we’ll create new, fun and affordable options for people going out at night.”

8pm on George St at The Rocks,where Sydney’s nightlife is dead compared to other major cities like London, Paris and New York. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Night Time Industrials Association chief executive Mick Gibb told The Daily Telegraph the city “can’t let NIMBYs dictate what kind of global city Sydney will be”.

“Sydney should be for far more people than a collective of vexatious complainants who’ve familiarised themselves with a complaints hotline,” he said. “When done properly and without unnecessary new layers of regulation, special entertainment precincts are the gateway to a more diverse and exciting night time economy.”

While a Merivale spokeswoman said the group “supports initiatives that contribute to the vibrancy and growth of Sydney’s night-life” after making a submission to the plans.

“We welcome any efforts that help foster a dynamic and thriving night-time economy in the CBD,” she said. “The NSW Government’s Vibrancy Reforms are a step in the right direction, and we are excited about the potential for positive change in the city’s cultural landscape.”

In October, The Daily Telegraph revealed an ambitious proposal from the council to transform Sydney into a city that never sleeps with plans to allow entertainment-based businesses to operate all night long.

It will allow bars, clubs, and even cafes and retail shops across the majority of the CBD to apply to open 24 hours a day.

A City of Sydney planner said the special entertainment precincts would make it easier for licensed and unlicensed businesses to trade later without a development application. Picture: Damian Shaw

The proposal also includes the option for venues to apply for an additional three hours of late-night trading to 4am for small bars and clubs in the CBD and the Oxford St entertainment precinct, without a development application.

A City of Sydney planner said the special entertainment precincts would make it easier for licensed and unlicensed businesses to trade later without a development application.

The move is one of the biggest reforms to Sydney’s night-time economy since controversial lockout laws were imposed a decade ago.

Minister for the Night-time Economy John Graham congratulated the council on “this important step in rebuilding its night-time economy”.

“This is the first time in a generation the NSW Government and the City of Sydney are pulling in the same direction on night-life,” he said.

“There are still people that need convincing but thankfully NIMBYism is on the decline as people realise the benefits of a vibrant night-time economy.”

University student, Zane Glance said he would “pay the council” to improve the city’s night-life.

Becca Callaghan, 21, and Kayleigh Ward, 27, enjoy a drink at Hotel CBD. They said they would support pubs and bars staying open later. Picture: Thomas Lisson

“I think it’s a great idea, there’s probably nothing better that we can do right now,” he said.

The Daily Telegraph’s Future Sydney: Bradfield Oration campaigned for a 24-hour vision to revitalise the Sydney CBD, calling for increased trading hours and cuts to red tape for entertainment hubs.

Retail worker Becca Callaghan, 21, said it would be fantastic if bars and pubs stayed open later.

“I’m from Ireland so everything closing and everyone going home at nine is pretty foreign to me,” she said.

Hotel CBD bartender Kayleigh Ward, 27, said on weekends it would certainly be a huge boost for nightlife.

Originally published as City of Sydney council plan for 24-hour city set to go ahead despite NIMBY concern