Decision details

Moved by Councillor Scott, seconded by Councillor Weldon –

It is resolved that:

(A)      Council note:

(i)         the Eveleigh Hotel is a gambling free family friendly community hub at 158 Abercrombie Street;

(ii)        the family-run business has been operating for over a decade;

(iii)      the Eveleigh Hotel have reported that they have been the subject of noise complaints by a neighbour, and as such Council actions have resulted in restrictions on the Hotel;

(iv)      past restrictions issued by Council have been adhered to by the hotel, at immense cost and personal effort by their management and staff;

(v)       the Hotel has already carried out renovations of an estimated $60,000 in recent years, responding with great patience to the Council’s comments;

(vi)      they are currently carrying out yet more renovations;

(vii)     the City’s attempts to resolve the noise issue through a voluntary process over the last six month had been unsuccessful so the City recently advised the Hotel more formal action may be taken. The Hotel responded with a commitment to engage an acoustic specialist, remove or relocate a speaker, lay carpet and underlay and instal acoustic panels;

(viii)    the Eveleigh Hotel report that the latest restrictions, however, threaten the survival of the Hotel;

(ix)      the latest restrictions issued by council mean that:

(a)       outdoor seating is reduced again, to a maximum of six people on two tables until 8pm;

(b)       the outdoor seating area is reduced from 7.8m2 to 6m2 in response to gathering of patrons on the footpath outside the pub having adverse impacts on the neighbouring properties and for pedestrians moving past the site;

(c)       side windows and doors must be closed to prevent noise leakage;

(d)       costly renovations must again take place to reduce noise leakage; and

(e)       the applicant’s footway submission sought to renew their existing approval including trading to 8.00 pm. The City approved the hours applied for and there was no reduction in trading hours;

(x)       the Hotel operators have been assured by City staff that live music can continue;

(xi)      these restrictions have cultivated an environment of anxiousness for the hotel, which has, in one case, led to an actual stress-related physical illness for which an ambulance had to be called during a shift; 

(xii)     the Eveleigh Hotel have foremost called for the retraction of the latest restrictions and a reconsideration of past ones;

(xiii)    the Eveleigh Hotel would like to offer:

(a)       modest live music events, such as jazz music on a Saturday afternoon; and

(b)       a restrained provision of outdoor seating, for nine persons on three tables until 9pm; 

(xiv)    the Eveleigh Hotel has started a petition for the restrictions to be removed, which has gained 2,076 signatures within six days of its publishing;

(xv)     the reasons that the Eveleigh Hotel find the imposed restrictions to be unreasonable are as outlined:

(a)       the live music presented is distinctly family-friendly, both in noise-levels and in character. The live jazz events which take place on Saturday afternoons finish at a modest 7pm;

(b)       the window closing restrictions reduce air flow to unsafe levels within the pub and, as a result, the atmosphere will be too hot for comfort during the summer, and, in addition, the oxygen levels will be reduced which is particularly dangerous in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Encouraging air-flow through open windows and doors was an intrinsic element of the hotel’s architectural design 150 years ago; and

(c)       according to a noise assessment carried out by an independent audio specialist in 2019, Acoustic Logic Consultancy, noise levels were judged not to exceed the limits upheld by the council;

(xvi)    the sentiment expressed in the imposition of these restrictions is counter-intuitive to the NSW Government’s claims to support hotels in moving away from gambling by promoting live music;

(xvii)   since July last year, the City has approved nearly 320 outdoor dining applications. Only one application has been refused;

(xviii)  the City will continue to work with business operators to maximise the activation of footpaths and streets whilst balancing the needs of other users and surrounding neighbours;

(xix)    in October of 2012, the City established a taskforce on Live music and Performance;

(xx)     on 18 November 2013, the City of Sydney Council endorsed the Taskforce’s proposed action plan, Live Music Matters: Planning for Live Music and Performance in Sydney for public exhibition;

(xxi)    Live Music Matters identified 57 short, medium and long-term remedial actions the City of Sydney might take to support live music and live performance;

(xxii)   there was a status report commissioned by the taskforce in 2017 and the last one published was in 2018, revealing:

(a)       a 61 per cent decline over a nine year period in Live Music or performance listings, from 540 in 2004 to 213 in 2013;

(b)       in 2012, the City of Sydney’s call centre received 2,829 noise-related enquiries or complaints. Of these, 105 (less than four per cent) were in connection with premises that programmed live music; and

(c)       in December 2018, 58 per cent of the action plan has been implemented with an additional 28 per cent of actions in progress and 14 per cent yet to start or being re-scoped; and

(xxiii)  in 2016, APRA AMCOS released a report on live music revenue, revealing:

(a)       a 40 per cent drop in live performance revenue at venues within the Sydney CBD lockout area; and

(b)       of venues with a Live Artist Performance Licence, there was a 15 per cent overall decrease in value of venue expenditure on live artist performers, that being 17 per cent for hotels bars and nightclubs; and

(B)      the Chief Executive Officer be requested to:

(i)         investigate all options to ensure live music can continue at the Eveleigh Hotel; and

(ii)        ensure any unbudgeted recommendations from the Taskforce and the City’s Live Music and Performance Action Plan are funded in the City’s forthcoming budget.

Amendment. Moved by Councillor Chan, seconded by Councillor Kok –

It is resolved that:

(A)      Council note:

(i)         the Eveleigh Hotel is a gambling free family friendly community hub at 158 Abercrombie Street;

(ii)        the family-run business has been operating for over a decade;

(iii)      the Eveleigh Hotel have reported that they have been the subject of noise complaints by a neighbour;

(iv)      the City investigated noise complaints made about the Eveleigh Hotel, under State legislation;

(v)       since August 2022, City staff have been working with the Eveleigh Hotel owners by providing advice on measures to reduce noise impacts;

(vi)      the City’s attempts to resolve the noise issue through a voluntary process over the last six months had been unsuccessful so the City recently advised the Hotel more formal action may be taken. The Hotel responded with a commitment to engage an acoustic specialist, remove or relocate a speaker, lay carpet and underlay and install acoustic panels;

(vii)     City staff have advised the Eveleigh Hotel owners they will not take enforcement action and live music can continue while noise mitigation works are undertaken;

(viii)    the Eveleigh Hotel would like to offer:

(a)       modest live music events, such as jazz music on a Saturday afternoon; and

(b)       a restrained provision of outdoor seating, for nine persons on three tables until 9pm;

(ix)      the Eveleigh Hotel has started a petition for the restrictions to be removed, which has gained 2,076 signatures within six days of its publishing;

(x)       since July last year, the City has approved nearly 320 outdoor dining applications. Only one application has been refused;

(xi)      in January 2023, the Eveleigh Hotel was granted an outdoor dining approval for six square metres;

(xii)     the City will continue to work with business operators to maximise the activation of footpaths and streets whilst balancing the needs of other users and surrounding neighbours;

(xiii)    on Friday 10 March 2023, Councillors received a CEO Update detailing the investigation of noise complaints at the Eveleigh Hotel as well as the agreed noise attenuation works;

(xiv)    in 2014 Council adopted the Live Music and Performance Action Plan;

(xv)     the Action Plan included 60 actions which the City of Sydney and/or the NSW Government should take to support live music and live performance, with many of these actions requiring collaboration with the live music and performance sector;

(xvi)    the majority of these actions have been implemented or superseded by other City policies and strategies, while most of those remaining require action by other levels of government; and

(xvii)   the Chief Executive Officer has provided an update on the status of the actions in the Live Music and Performance Action Plan under Item 9 Questions on Notice with Answers as part of today’s Council meeting papers; and

(xviii)  urgent action is required to address the loss of live music and performance venues in Sydney; and

(B)      the Lord Mayor be requested to write to relevant incoming Ministers requesting urgent action to address the loss of live music and performance venues and to implement those outstanding Live Music and Performance Action Plan actions which are the responsibility of the NSW Government.

A show of hands on the amendment resulted in an equality of voting as follows –

Ayes (5)     The Chair (the Lord Mayor), Councillors Chan, Davis, Kok and Scully

Noes (5)     Councillors Ellsmore, Gannon, Jarrett, Scott and Weldon.

The Chair (the Lord Mayor) exercised her casting vote in favour of the amendment.

The amendment was declared carried.

Amendment. Moved by Councillor Scott, seconded by Councillor Jarrett –

That the motion be amended by the inclusion of a clause (B) as follows (with remaining items to be renumbered accordingly) –

(B)      the Chief Executive Officer be requested to:

(i)         investigate all options to ensure live music can continue at the Eveleigh Hotel; and

(ii)        ensure any unbudgeted recommendations from the Taskforce and the City’s Live Music and Performance Action Plan are funded in the City’s forthcoming budget.

The amendment was lost on the following show of hands –

Ayes (4)     Councillors Ellsmore, Jarrett, Scott and Weldon

Noes (6)     The Chair (the Lord Mayor), Councillors Chan, Davis, Gannon, Kok and Scully.

Amendment lost.

The substantive motion was carried on the following show of hands –

Ayes (9)     The Chair (the Lord Mayor), Councillors Chan, Davis, Ellsmore, Gannon, Kok, Scott, Scully and Weldon

Noes (1)     Councillor Jarrett.

Amended motion carried.

X086655

Point of Order

During discussion of Item 11.10, Councillor Jarrett raised a point of order, stating that the Chair (the Lord Mayor) had made an inappropriate comment in response to the results of the vote on Councillor Chan’s amendment.

The Chair (the Lord Mayor) upheld the point of order and retracted the comment.