Under the package of 63 amendments,restrictions have been removed from mirror-balls,dancing,artist numbers and music genres. It will also be easier to change a shop or retail premises into a small arts or music venue.
Where a special entertainment precinct is identified,all noise complaints will be dealt with by the council,removing the right for complainants to pursue various complaints through the liquor regulator,the Land and Environment Court and licensing police.
Labor MLC John Graham,an advocate of live music,said about 15 councils were vying to be first to implement the new laws,which reward venues for supporting entertainment rather than relying on alcohol or pokie revenue.
In the inner west,mayor Darcy Byrne is keen to extend the dispensations and incentives for the Enmore to the Bridge Hotel in Balmain and performance venues along the main streets of Newtown,Marrickville and Leichhardt.
Operating in Queensland since 2006,special entertainment precincts support live music venues and the night-time economy,said John Wardle of the Live Music Office,which championed the changes.
Even the word “sound” is to be interchangeably used for “noise” in the new regulations,removing the presumption that music venues are polluters. Other concessions include an 80 per cent cut in liquor licensing fees and a half-hour daily extension to trading hours,Mr Wardle said.